Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c6.17

c6.17

Government is part of the general social order and scheme of human duties. The Mahābhārata repeats the Vedic myth of the origin of castes. But it does conceive a state of society when no caste existed. People fell from penance and righteousness and were therefore distributed into castes. Elsewhere we are told that, when first created, the four orders differed only in their complexion, the Brâhmaṇas being white; the Kṣatriyas, red; the Vaiśyas, yellow; and the Śûdras, black. It is, however, significant that a later commentator explains ‘white’ as implying pure goodness (satwa); red implying passion (rajas); yellow, goodness and passion (satwa and rajas) and black, darkness.