History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c19.9.4

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.