Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s1.212

v1.c3.s1.212

Ārya is the normal designation in the Vedic literature from the Rigveda¹ onwards of an Āryan, a member of the three upper classes, Brāhmaṇa, Kṣatriya, or Vaiśya, as the formal division is given in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa.² The Ārya stands in opposition to the Dāsa,³ but also to the Śūdra. Sometimes⁴ the expression is restricted to the Vaiśya caste, the Brāhmaṇa and the Kṣatriya receiving special designations; but this use is not common, and it is often uncertain also whether Ārya is not meant. The phrase Śūdrāryau⁵ is especially ambiguous, but appears to have denoted originally the Śūdra and the Āryan, for in the Mahāvrata ceremony the fight between a Śūdra and an Ārya is represented in the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa as one between a Brāhmaṇa and a Śūdra, though the Sūtra treats it as a fight between a Vaiśya and a Śūdra.