Caste (Varna) system in India (Hinduism) (correct and full meaning)

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Just before going to “Caste (Varna) system in India (Hinduism) (correct and full meaning)“, let us know a brief, basic and very important information.

Lord Sri Krishna in Srimad Bhagavad Gita has said to his sakha / friend Arjuna in regard to the Four Varnas (Chartur Varnas). Lord Sri Krishna says:

चातुर्वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं गुण-कर्म-विभागशः | ಚಾತುರ್-ವರ್ಣ್ಯಂ ಮಯಾ ಸೃಷ್ಟಂ ಗುಣ-ಕರ್ಮ-ವಿಭಾಗಶಃ |

“cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ” | (“Chatur-Varnam Maya Shrustam, Guna Karma Vibhagashaha”)

Meaning of the above shloka : chatur-varnyam = The four varnas / divisions of human society; mayaa = Done by Me (Sri Krishna);

srstam = Created; guna = quality; karma = Karma; vibhagasah = In the form of division; tasya = Of that; kartaram = The father;

api = although; mam = Me (Sri Krishna); viddhi = you may know; akartaram = As the non-doer; avyayam = Being unalterable.

Translation of the above shloka : I (Lord Sri Krishna) have created four Varnas, that is, Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra based on the Karma and deeds of Jeevas (living beings).

And, although I am the creator of these four varnas, you should always remember that I am (Lord Sri Krishna) yet the non-doer and being unalterable.

The Chatur / Four Varnas are classified based on Guna (quality & capability) and Karma of the individual.

The Guna (quality & capability) that is told here is not the character, but the Prakriti (nature) of the individual containing the amalgamation of the trigunas (three qualities) i.e. Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.

An individual who has Satva guna is categorized as Brahmana (teacher / scholar).

An individual who has Satva and Rajas with Rajas in prominence is categorized as Kshatriya (ruler / administrator).

An individual who has Rajas and Tamas with Rajas in prominence is categorized as Vaishya (merchant / tradesmen).

An individual who has Tamo guna is categorized as Shudra (worker / craftsmen).

Chatur varna / four variety (varna) in Bharatiya (Indian) Sanatana Dharma:

Lord Sri Krishna preaching Sri Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna.

Let us take few common examples to understand the ‘chatur varna / four varnas’ in a better way as given below:

In Bharatiya (Indian) Sanatana Dharma there are four varNa / variety, those are ‘Brahmana varna’, ‘Kshatriya varna’, ‘Vaishya varna’ and ‘Shudra varna’.

The Brahmana varna is considered as the most intelligent / thinkers. The Kshatriya varna is considered as the warriors.

The Vaishya varna are those who are involved in trading / business field. 

And finally and most importantly the Shudra varna are those who help the other three varna people and also who are involved in the agricultural / farming works.

We need to understand here that Lord Sri Vishnu (Narayana / Hari / Rama / Krishna) has classified these four varna / variety / group. 

All four varna are very important to lead a normal life on this bhoomi / earth and these four varnas are inter dependent with each other and no single varna is greatest or lowest.

The Brahmana varna has to do their duties of learning, teaching, related works, etc.

The Kshatriya varna has to protect everybody and anything, that is, they have to work as warriors.

The Vaishya varna has to do the trading, business job, that is, they need to buy and sells variety of goods.

And also similarly the Shudra varna has to perform the supporting, agricultural, farming etc.

Here all the four are dependent on each other. Among these, no varna is highest and no varna is least.

Same type of the four varna / variety is applicable in today’s world also.

To be precise, same varna / variety is happening in today’s world too.

Let us take the example of a big ‘Multi National Company’ (MNC) as given below:

Here the chairman / managing director / CEO / Directors are considered as the most knowledgeable and intelligent people.

(it doesn’t mean others are not knowledgeable and not intelligent. But because these people would had got that extra knowledge and that extra experience to lead the company.)

(That’s why they are at the top level.)

After these people the second varna would be Presidents, Vice Presidents, General managers etc.

The third varna are those of Senior Managers, Managers, Assistant Managers etc.

And last but also one of the most important varna are those of Team leaders, Executives, Freshers etc.

Here again all the levels of employees are very important and all the correlated. Even with one varna without active participation the company cannot run properly.

Another example we can take is that of our ministers, government employees, etc.:

Here if we consider if the Prime Minister / PM as the head of the country and his Ministers as the first varna.

Then the defense heads like army, navy and air force as the second varna.

The third varna as the secretariat, IAS officers, senior diplomats, etc.

The fourth varna and again the most important are the government employees / officials.

Here again all the four varna are very important for the smooth flow of the country’s all internal and external affairs.

We as humans and patriots of the country should understand why Lord Sri Krishna has done this chatur / four varna / variety.

We need to understand why Lord Sri Krishna has done varna so that the whole world, whole country, whole company and off course the whole family has to be in unity and should be able to work with each other for the betterment of the mankind.

If we politicize the four varna for ones own gain or greed, then nothing can be done and is against the Dharma / rules of Lord Sri Vishnu (Rama / Krishna).

All four varna people are equal in their own ways. All are important. Even with one varna not doing their duties properly can lead to disasters.

We need to understand our own duties, our own jobs, our own works. If all do their duties properly, then everything will be good. Everything will flow in the right direction.

EVERYTHING WILL BE GOOD AND EVERYTHING WILL BE AS PER OUR SANAATANA DHARMA.

AND  EVERYTHING WILL BE AS PER THE WISHES OF SRIMANN NARAYANA (VISHNU / RAMA / KRISHNA). 

Even Lord Sri Hari (Vishnu) will be happy if we follow the varna system. If Lord Sri Hari (Vishnu) is happy means, the whole world is happy.

If Lord Sri Hari (Vishnu) is happy means, we will get all the required things in our lives.

SO PLEASE FOLLOW DHARMA AND VARNA SYSTEM, TO BE HAPPY AND A SATISFIED PERSON.

A great saint of Sri Madhwa (Dvaita) Sampradaya, Sri Raghavendra Swamy has given an extensive explanation for this shloka (see below for shloka) with the help of Sri Madhwacharya Ji’s commentary.

चातुर्वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं गुण-कर्म-विभागशः | ಚಾತುರ್-ವರ್ಣ್ಯಂ ಮಯಾ ಸೃಷ್ಟಂ ಗುಣ-ಕರ್ಮ-ವಿಭಾಗಶಃ |

“cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ” | (“Chatur-Varnam Maya Shrustam, Guna Karma Vibhagashaha”)

(Meaning and explanation of this shloka is already given in the initial part of this post / article.)

This Varna system explained is not limited to only India, but is applicable to the entire humanity (whole world).

On the outward way it may look like Lord Sri Krishna has created these four varnas, that is, Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra.

But Sri Madhwacharya Ji says this classification is not based purely on the body, but is based on atma / soul.

Each atma / soul has very unique nature of its own. This means, every atma / soul is different from each other. My atma / soul is different from your atma / soul

Many of us know that atmas / souls have been widely divided into three, that is, Satvika, Rajasa and Tamasa.

Satvikas include all the Devatas / Demigods.

Tamasas include the Asuras and lowest level of humans.

Rajasas has again divided into three divisions, that is, Rajasa-Satvika, Rajasa-Rajasa, Rajasa-Tamasa.

And again amidst these, Rajasa-Satvika group is divided into chatur varna i.e, Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra in Bhagavad gita.

If an atma / soul (with the combination of Rajasa and Satvika) has greater (too high) ‘Satvika guna’ than ‘Rajasa Guna’, then he will be called as a Brahmana.

If ‘Satva Guna’ is a little more than ‘Rajasa Guna’, than he will be called as a Kshatriya.

If ‘Satva Guna’ and ‘Rajo Guna’ are equal in quantity, then he will be called as a Vaishya.

If ‘Rajo Guna’ is higher than ‘Satva Guna’, then he will be called as a Shudra.

This is the correct meaning of Chatur Varna as per Hinduism / Sanatana Dharma.

More information will be added to this. Please visit after some time.

To know “Srimad Bhagavad Gita full lyrics in Kannada”, please visit the below link:

Srimad Bhagavad Gita full lyrics in Kannada

To know “Srimad Bhagavad Gita full lyrics in English”, please visit the below link:

Srimad Bhagavad Gita full lyrics in Sanskrit (Hindi)

To know “Srimad Bhagavad Gita full lyrics in English”, please visit the below link:

Srimad Bhagavad Gita full lyrics in English

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