History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c19.9
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c19.9
- Language
- English
v2.c19.9.1
The word *varṇa* means 'colour' or 'light' in most passages of the Ṛgveda (e. g. I. 73.7, II. 3.5, IX. 97.15, IX. 104.4, IX. 105.4, X. 124.7). But in some verses of the Ṛgveda⁵³ the word *varṇa* is associated with groups of people having a skin of a dark or fair colour. For example, we read in Ṛg. II. 12.4 '(Indra) who placed low the *dāsa* colour in a cave (or darkness)'; in Ṛg. I. 179.6 'the fierce sage (Agastya) cherished both *varṇas*'; in Ṛg. IX. 71.2 'like one (a fighter) who strikes the people he (Soma) who is powerful goes giving out frequent roars; he exposes the Asura colour'; in Ṛg. I. 130.8 'Indra helped in battles the Ārya sacrificer...... Indra punished for the sake of Manu (the *dāsas*) who do not observe the ordinances and subdued (or killed) the dark skin'; 'Indra having killed the dasyus protected the ārya varṇa' (Ṛg. III. 34.9); 'You (Indra) subdued for Ṛjiśvan, the son of Vidathin, Pipru and powerful Mṛgaya; you mowed down fifty thousand dark (men), you shattered cities as old age does shatter good looks' Ṛg. IV. 16.13; 'Somas, which strike away the dark skin' Ṛg. IX. 41.1. In Ṛg. I. 158.5 a certain *dāsa* is called Traitana which name has a Persian ring about it; In Ṛg. I. 104.2 *varṇa* seems to be placed in opposition to *dāsa*. These passages make it clear that the Āryas and dāsas were two opposing camps and both were designated 'varṇas' on account of the colour of their skins. The Tai. Br. I. 2.
v2.c19.9.2
6 (with reference to the Mahāvrata in which there was a mock fight between a brāhmaṇa and a śūdra) says 'that the brāhmaṇa is the divine varṇa, and śūdra is the asurya varṇa'.⁵⁴ If we can interpret the Ṛgveda verse by the help of the Tai. Br. then in Ṛg. IX. 71.2, the words 'asuryam varṇam' mean 'śūdra tribe'. There is no doubt that the word *asura* when applied to gods like Varuṇa has another meaning also in the Ṛg. In numerous places in the Ṛgveda the antagonism between the *āryas* and *dāsas* or *dasyus* is emphasized and prayers are offered to Indra and other gods for having subdued or for subduing the dāsa in favour of the Ārya. Ṛg. I. 51.8; I. 103.3; I. 117.21; II. 11.2, 4, 18, 19; III. 29.9; V. 70.3; VII. 5.6; IX. 88.4; VI. 18.3; VI. 25.2. In Ṛg. I. 51.8 Indra is requested to mark who are āryas and who are dasyus. This does not mean that there was difference between the two in bodily appearance only; on the contrary the antithesis between the ārya who is referred to as 'barhiṣmat' and the dasyu who is styled 'avrata' clearly shows that the emphasis was rather on the difference of their cults. That *dasyu* and *dāsa* are identical in meaning follows from the same epithets being applied to both and from the fact that dasyu and dāsa occur in the same verses as applying to the same enemy.⁵⁵ In Ṛg. X. 22.8 dasyu and dāsa are used in the same verse as applicable to the same enemy. In Ṛg. X. 99.6 and 8 Indra is represented as killing both dāsa and dasyu respectively.
v2.c19.9.3
The dasyus are described as '*avrata*' (not obeying the ordinances of the gods) in Ṛg. I. 51.8, I. 175.3, VI. 14.3, '*akratu*' (who perform no sacrifice) in VII. 6.3,⁵⁶ '*mṛdhravācaḥ*' (whose speech is indistinct or soft) in VII. 6.3 and V. 29.10, '*anāsaḥ*' (snub-nosed or dumb) in Ṛg. V. 29.10. It appears that dāsa and dasyu are synonyms and were sometimes styled asuras. For example, Śambara is called dasyu and dāsa in Ṛgveda VI. 31.4 and dāsa in Ṛg. VI. 26.5 and is also associated with asuras like Pipru in VI. 18.8; Pipru is spoken of as a dāsa in Ṛg. VIII. 32.2 and as an asura in X. 138.3. Varcin is styled dāsa in Ṛg. IV. 30.15 and VI. 47.21 and asura in VII. 99.5. In Tai. S.⁵⁷ (IV. 3.11.3) also it seems that they are held to be identical. The enmity between dāsa and ārya is breathed in such verses as the following: Ṛg. II. 11.4 'vanquish the tribe of dāsas by the sun (i. e. by the help of a brilliant weapon); Ṛg. I. 174.7 'You made the earth a pillow for the dāsa (i. e. you laid him low on the ground); Ṛg. III. 12.6 'Oh! Indra and Agni, by one effort together you shook ninety cities that had dāsas as overlords'. It is not possible to say that dāsas or dasyus were some Aryan tribes that had fallen from the worship or culture of the Aryan singers of Vedic hymns. In many places the sage refers to the conquest for him by Indra and other gods of dāsas as well as Aryan foes. For example, 'Protectors of the good! you (two) killed Aryan foes and dāsa foes' Ṛg. VI. 60·6;
v2.c19.9.4
'Oh Indra and Varuṇa! you killed dāsa foes and also Ārya foes and helped Sudās with your protection' Ṛg. VII. 83.1. Vide also Ṛg. VI. 22·10, X. 69·6, X. 83·1, X. 102·3. This shows that though the āryans had become divided and fought among themselves, they kept āryas and dāsas quite distinct. The foregoing shows that in the times of the Ṛgveda there were two antagonistic camps, of the āryas and dāsas or dasyus, they differed in the colour of their skins and also in worship, speech and bodily appearance. Therefore, in the earliest period we find the word varṇa associated only with dāsa and with ārya. Though the words brāhmaṇa and kṣatriya occur frequently in the Ṛgveda, the word varṇa is not used in connection with them. Even in the Puruṣasūkta (Ṛgveda X. 90) where the words brāhmaṇa, rājanya, vaiśya and śūdra occur the word varṇa is not used. Hence, one may reasonably say that the only water-tight groups that are positively or expressly vouchsafed by the Ṛgveda are ārya and dāsa or dasyu. It is often argued that as the word brāhmaṇa denotes a caste in later literature, in the Ṛgveda also it must be presumed to have the same meaning. But this begs the whole question. No one denies that brāhmaṇa denotes a caste in later literature. But whether it has the same sense in the Ṛgveda must be determined on the materials furnished by the Ṛgveda itself. Some rely on the word 'brahmaputra' in Ṛg. II. 43. 2 as showing that a brāhmaṇa became so only by birth in the Ṛgveda.
v2.c19.9.5
But the verse begins by saying that 'you sing a Sāma like the Udgātṛ priest' and so 'brahmaputra' must mean a ṛtvij whose duty it was to recite śastras (the Brāhmaṇācchaṁsin as Sāyaṇa explains). It is generally conceded that the Puruṣasūkta is a much later hymn than most of the hymns of the Ṛgveda. In the whole of the Ṛgveda the words vaiśya and śūdra do not occur except in the Puruṣasūkta, though both of them occur in the Atharvaveda (V. 17·9 for vaiśya and IV. 20. 4 and 8 for śūdra and ārya) and very frequently in the Tai. S. Besides we cannot forget that the final redaction of the Ṛgveda must be held to have been separated from the composition of the individual hymns by several hundred years (if not more) and that even if it be conceded that at the time when the Puruṣasūkta was composed, the four varṇas had been constituted and had become castes, yet the same cannot be affirmed for the time of the original composition of the other hymns. The word brāhmaṇa occurs several times in the Ṛgveda: ⁵⁸ 'Oh brāhmaṇas, Oh pitṛs fond of soma! May the sinless Dyāvāpṛthivī (Heaven and Earth) tend to our welfare'; 'Like brāhmaṇas in the Atirātra where soma is to be drunk, utterring (words) round a lake full of water you have, Oh frogs, gathered together on that day of the year on which the rains begin' (Ṛg. VII. 103. 7); ⁵⁹ 'The brāhmaṇas, who drink soma, reciting prayers of the yearly sacrifice, have sent forth their speech' (Ṛg. VII. 103. 8).
v2.c19.9.6
In this verse brāhmaṇas are expressly said to be getting 'brahma' ready. 'May Agni who devours everything make that (dead body) free from disease and (may) soma also (do the same) who entered into the brāhmaṇas' (Ṛg. X. 16. 6). 'When the brāhmaṇas worship together as friends in hymns (lit. speed of the mind) that are fabricated from their hearts' (Ṛg. X. 71. 8). In Ṛg. VI. 75. 10 brāhmaṇas are invoked for welfare along with pitṛs. This shows that the brāhmaṇas were highly venerated. The other verses establish that they were the reciters of hymns (brahma) and drank soma. In Ṛg. VIII. 35. 16-18 we read 'You (Aśvins) urge on (or inspire) brahma, you urge on our thoughts (or actions), you kill the evil spirits and subdue diseases; (17) you urge kṣatra (valour) and also men, you kill evil spirits (same as 16); (18) you urge on the cows and also the Viś (the rest is same as 16).' Here it seems that the groups of people (viz. those who think and make songs, those who show valour and lead men, and those common people who tend cattle) are clearly meant. These verses may be conceded as pointing to the existence of three groups (brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and viśaḥ) but there is nothing in them to show that these three had crystallised into somewhat like the castes of later times. In Ṛg. VII. 33. 11 Vasiṣṭha is addressed as brahman, but that does not mean that he was a brāhmaṇa (by birth), as he is said to have been born of Urvaśī from Mitra and Varuṇa. Similarly, in Ṛg. IX. 96.
v2.c19.9.7
6 (Brahmā devānāṃ) the word brahmā⁶⁰ does not certainly mean 'brāhmaṇa by birth', nor does 'viprāṇām' mean 'brāhmaṇas by birth'. In that verse one who is super-eminent among a group is specified, just as the buffalo among animals, the hawk among carnivorous birds &c. In Ṛg. VIII. 33. 19 'look down and not up; bring your feet close together; may thy kaśaplakas (legs?) be not seen, for though a brahmā, thou wert born a woman,' it is impossible to hold that the last words mean 'thou wert a brāhmaṇa woman'. If it is only intended to refer to the fact that she is a brāhmaṇa woman, there is no reason why the Perfect tense (babhūvitha) is used and not the present. Here 'brahmā' most probably means 'a priest of that name', as that is the meaning in Ṛg. II. 1. 2 (brahmā cāsi gṛhapatiś-ca no dame). The word 'brahmajāyā' in Ṛg. X. 109. 2, 3, 6 and 7 does not mean the wife of a brāhmaṇa by birth but rather 'wife of Bṛhaspati'. The whole hymn is obscure and more or less enigmatic or allegorical. In the Aitareya-brāhmaṇa⁶¹ 35. 2-4 it is said that soma is the food of brāhmaṇas and that a kṣatriya was to press the tendrils of the Nyagrodha tree and the fruits of Udumbara, Aśvattha and Plakṣa and drink the juice so pressed instead of soma. It appears, therefore, that the brāhmaṇas were a distinct group even in the earliest period of the Ṛgveda. Whether they were hereditary is certainly not clear;
v2.c19.9.8
nor is there anything to show that there were restrictions as regards partaking of food from persons other than brāhmaṇas or as to marriage. That brāhmaṇas in the Ṛgveda were a class by themselves may be conceded, but whether they had become a caste by birth is a matter of opinion dependent on the connotation given to the word caste. Dr. Ghurye ('Caste and race in India' p. 42) thinks, probably following the Vedic Index (vol. I on Kṣatriya), that the reference in Ṛg. X. 71. 9 to a false claim for being regarded as a brāhmaṇa points to the conclusion that brāhmaṇas had become a caste. The verse literally translated means 'these (persons) who do not move below nor beyond, who are neither brāhmaṇas, nor engaged in pressing soma—they being ignorant and having resorted to speech in sinful (or coarse) language take to ploughshares and engage in (agricultural) operations’. It is difficult to see how there is here any false claim to be regarded as a brāhmaṇa. This verse means apparently that those who are not composers of prayers or drinkers of soma (because they are ignorant) are men of low speech and have to turn to agriculture. Even in the days of the dharma-sūtras restrictions as to food and marriage for brāhmaṇas were not at all as rigid as they became in medieval and modern times; but even when these restrictions were not rigid it was clearly laid down that a brāhmaṇa is so by birth alone. The word ‘brahma’ generally means in the Ṛgveda ‘prayer’ or ‘hymn’. *Vide*⁶² Ṛg IV.
v2.c19.9.9
6.11, VI. 52.2, X. 105.8, X. 141.5 (‘Oh Agni, make our prayer and sacrifice prosper by your flames’). Ṛg. III. 53.12 is ‘this brahma (prayer or spiritual power) of Viśvāmitra protects the Bhārata people’. In the Atharvaveda II. 15.4 (as brahma and kṣatra entertain no fear, nor are they harmed) brahma seems to mean ‘the class of brāhmaṇas’. The transition of meaning from ‘brahma’ (prayer) to ‘brahma’ meaning the class of those who composed or recited prayers is natural and easy. In the Ṛgveda I. 157.2 both brahma and kṣatra occur⁶³ in the same verse where they probably mean ‘prayer’ and ‘valour’ respectively. In the Atharvaveda III. 19.1 both words occur and probably mean the same thing as in Ṛg. I. 157.2. In some Vedic works *brahma* and *kṣatra* stand collectively for brāhmaṇas⁶⁴ and kṣatriyas (e. g. Tai. Br. II. 7.18, Bṛ. Up. I. 4.11, Kaṭhopaniṣad I. 2. 24). The word kṣatriya is very frequently applied as an epithet to several gods; e. g. Ṛg. VII. 64. 2 and VIII. 25. 8 (in both to Mitra and Varuṇa), Ṛg. VIII. 67. 1 (to Ādityas), Ṛg. X. 66.8 (to gods in general). In some verses kṣatriya means ‘a king or a nobleman’; e. g. Ṛg. IV. 42.1 ‘the kingdom on both sides (heaven and earth) belongs to me, who am a kṣatriya and who holds sway over all living persons, so that all the immortals (gods) are ours (on my side)’;⁶⁵ Ṛg. X. 109.3 ( = Atharva V. 17.3 ) 'the domain of the kṣatriya has been protected (from the sight of enemies)'.
v2.c19.9.10
(The word 'rājanya occurs in the Ṛgveda only in the Puruṣasūkta. It occurs in the sense of kṣatriya in the Atharvaveda V. 17.9. The same remark applies to the word kṣatriya as to brāhmaṇa. It is difficult to say whether kṣatriyas were so by birth in the times of the hymns of the Ṛg. or were only a class more or less fluid. We find that the Ṛg. speaks of Devāpi as the *purohita* of Śantanu who became a king. The story⁶⁶ is that both were sons of Ṛṣṭiṣeṇa and that Śantanu, though a younger brother, became king as Devāpi was not willing to be a king. The result was a famine due to Śantanu's transgression and so Devāpi performed a sacrifice to induce rainfall. This shows that out of two brothers one became a king and the other a purohita. So kings and purohitas did not depend on birth. In Ṛg. IX. 112. 3 a poet exclaims 'I am a reciter of hymns my father is a physician and my mother grinds (corn) with stones. We desire to obtain wealth in various actions.'⁶⁷ In Ṛg. III. 44.5 the poet wistfully asks Indra 'O, Indra, fond of soma, would you make me the protector of people, or would you make me a king, would you make me a sage, that has drunk of soma, would you impart to me endless wealth?' This shows that the same man could be a ṛṣi or a noble or a king. Dr. Ghurye (in 'Caste and race in India' p. 44) thinks that the kṣatriyas had become a compact body and he particularly relies on Ṛg. VII. 104. 13 ( = Atharvaveda VIII. 4. 13) which is cited in the Vedic Index (vol. 1, p.
v2.c19.9.11
207) for the same purpose. That verse literally means 'Soma does not urge on the crooked one, nor the kṣatriya who bears false. He strikes the rakṣas, and strikes him who speaks falsely; both lie in the bonds of Indra'. The words 'kṣatriyaṃ mithuyā dhārayantam' are explained by Sāyaṇa as 'Kṣatriya who bears false words'. The 2nd half is only an expansion of the first half and so 'vṛjina' corresponds to 'rakṣas' and 'asad vadantam' is only a paraphrase of 'mithuyā dhārayantam'. They may mean this that one who is a kṣatriya, but has no strength as a kṣatriya should have, is at the mercy of Indra. Unless we project our notions of the later state of society and the caste system when considering this verse, it is hardly possible to hold that this verse indicates that it refers to persons making a false claim for entrance into a compact body of kṣatriyas by birth. Dr. Ghurye also says (p. 44) 'The 2nd order in society, the kṣatriya, is known in the earlier portions of the Ṛgveda as rājanya.' I have not been able to find the word rājanya in the Ṛgveda any where except in the Puruṣasūkta. In the Aitareya brāhmaṇa (chap. 34. 2) the word 'rājanya' stands for a member of the 2nd class in society, while kṣatriya means a king of whom land (for sacrifice to gods) is asked for by brāhmaṇa, rājanya or vaiśya.