The Social Organisation in North-East India in Buddha's Time c8.65

c8.65

⁴ The word jâti, i.e., “birth” is also in Sanskr. the term for the concept “Caste.” By the side of *jâti*, there occurs in the Pali texts in the sense of “caste,” though much more rarely, the word vaṇṇa (= Skr. varṇa) and kula. Cf. Vinaya Piṭaka, ed. by Oldenberg Vol. 2 p. 239, cattâro’ me vaṇṇâ khattiyâ brâhmaṇâ vessâ suddâ-Vol. 3. p. 184 sq. cattâri kulâni, khattiyakulam brâhmaṇakulam, vessakulam suddakulam. The use of kula which as a rule denotes family in the sense of “caste” shows how much the two concepts overlap each other in the consciousness of the Indians and how closely allied they are.