A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c3.7

c3.7

Another interval elapsed between the days of the Brāhmana and of Manu. The theory of the golden egg is held by Manu, and he calls the active creator who was produced from it Brahmā and Nārāyana, the latter name being one which was afterwards exclusively appropriated by Vishnu. But the most remarkable change observable in Manu is in the condition of the people, in the great advancement of the Brahmanical caste, the establishment of the four great castes, and the rise of a number of mixed castes from cross intercourse of these four. In a hymn called Purusha-sūkta, one of the latest hymns of the Rig-veda, there is a distinct recognition of three classes, Brāhmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas, and these appear more distinctly in the Brāhmana, but no mention of the Sūdras and mixed castes has been found before the work of Manu.