What is the caste system?
The Vedas and associated literature describe a division of society into four varnas:brahmins (teachers and religious leaders), kshatriyas (warriors and defenders of the community), vaishyas (merchants and traders) and shudras (manual workers). This system is referred to as varnashrama dharma in the scriptures. There is evidence to suggest that this system of classification was originally based on the occupation an individual decided to take up and their characteristics and inclinations; a person’s caste was therefore a matter of their own free choice. However, as professions became associated with families the caste distinctions ossified into the rigid system we are more familiar with today, where the circumstances of a person’s birth dictates their caste and strict taboos have evolved concerning relations between castes. A hierarchy evolved in which the brahmins placed themselves highest, followed by kshatriyas, vaishyas and shudras. Brahmans regarded themselves as the sole intermedia
