[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.prasad-1928) › c7.10 # The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c7.10 The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c7.10 - **Language:** English ### [c7.10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.prasad-1928.c7.10) Caste. Caste has developed further and is now firmly established. It is now regarded as divine in origin and eternal in duration. In the well-known pantheistic Puruṣasûkta of the tenth Maṇḍala of the Ṛigveda occurs the standard explanation of caste. At the commencement of creation appeared Puruṣa, endowed with a thousand heads, a thousand eyes and a thousand legs. "Puruṣa is all this world, what has been and shall be." Three-fourths of him is the immortals in heaven and "one- - [Previous: c7.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.prasad-1928.c7.9) - [Next: c7.11](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.prasad-1928.c7.11) - [Up: c7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.prasad-1928.c7) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.prasad-1928.c7.10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.prasad-1928.c7.10) · Pramāṇa