In Sanskrit, Varna is supposed to mean an order or a type or a class.
Classes or varna has been mentioned since ancient times including in religious texts. If you have noticed, words have a long shelf life. But their meanings go through a see of change over time. That is, the words stay till today but when the era in which it was coined changes, the true meaning that was associated with the word, also changes. Over a period of time, a different society emerge, that still uses the word, but attaches different meanings and associations to it.
I dont even need to tell you about the word screw. It has existed for a long time, but its meaning and usage has changed over a period of time.
So in order to find out the true meaning of a word, we have to go back to the olden era when it was coined and examine the society and as it was back then. So what was it like in those olden times?
life was simple...
you were either a daily laborer in the kingdom (Working class),
or a trader who trades commodities or articles in the market (Business class),
or part of the kingdoms Administration / Army who takes care of the kingdom (Protection class),
or the priests who devotes their life to the quest of knowledge of God (Godly class).
These classifications were not only based on the job/activity but also based on mentality that is required to accomplish the job/activity. (working class - follow orders; business class - showing enterprise / energy; Protection class - protective mentality, courage, selfless and taking care of others; Godly class - sacrifice / study / furthering of knowledge.) Moreover, usually the children of each of these households would end up being in the same profession or job. This classification was necessary from a Hindu religious point of view as each class (mentality) had a different path prescribed to reach God.
Lets fast forward to now. How are things now?
Vast majority of today's population falls under the worker community.
Then we have the small or big industrialists and business men (and women)
Then we have the Army/Navy/Air force and Administrative Units
The remaining priestly class have shrunk all together.
This leaves us with a lot of questions when we use the term "Varna" literally on the current society. Can we say CEO of a company is a Shudra while its Shareholder is a Vysya; And can we call the beurocrats and army personnel as a Kshatriya and the primary class teacher or a scientist as a bhramana? Sorry, its not so straight forward.
I believe it is a reflection of a person's personality and mental makeup that decides which "varna" he or she belongs to. A CEO of a company can be as much a Shudra, as much as he could be a Vysya (energetic and profit oriented) as much as he could be a Kshatriya (employee friendly, aligning companies and nations interests etc.) as much as he could be a Bhramana (contemplative and scientific study oriented, thinks about how his company can make a big difference to majority of people.) But it is a personal thing and and should be treated accordingly much like a persons bank account details. Varna is only an indicator to the specific religious approach that the individual should adopt for his or her spiritual progress and shouldn't be treated as a social status symbol.
All people (varna's) put together creates this world. Each one takes care of an important activity that drives this world, our home. Similarly, colour's - there are many. All of them put together creates white. For creating white, all are important or more importantly, each one is important.
Classes or varna has been mentioned since ancient times including in religious texts. If you have noticed, words have a long shelf life. But their meanings go through a see of change over time. That is, the words stay till today but when the era in which it was coined changes, the true meaning that was associated with the word, also changes. Over a period of time, a different society emerge, that still uses the word, but attaches different meanings and associations to it.
I dont even need to tell you about the word screw. It has existed for a long time, but its meaning and usage has changed over a period of time.
So in order to find out the true meaning of a word, we have to go back to the olden era when it was coined and examine the society and as it was back then. So what was it like in those olden times?
life was simple...
you were either a daily laborer in the kingdom (Working class),
or a trader who trades commodities or articles in the market (Business class),
or part of the kingdoms Administration / Army who takes care of the kingdom (Protection class),
or the priests who devotes their life to the quest of knowledge of God (Godly class).
These classifications were not only based on the job/activity but also based on mentality that is required to accomplish the job/activity. (working class - follow orders; business class - showing enterprise / energy; Protection class - protective mentality, courage, selfless and taking care of others; Godly class - sacrifice / study / furthering of knowledge.) Moreover, usually the children of each of these households would end up being in the same profession or job. This classification was necessary from a Hindu religious point of view as each class (mentality) had a different path prescribed to reach God.
Lets fast forward to now. How are things now?
Vast majority of today's population falls under the worker community.
Then we have the small or big industrialists and business men (and women)
Then we have the Army/Navy/Air force and Administrative Units
The remaining priestly class have shrunk all together.
This leaves us with a lot of questions when we use the term "Varna" literally on the current society. Can we say CEO of a company is a Shudra while its Shareholder is a Vysya; And can we call the beurocrats and army personnel as a Kshatriya and the primary class teacher or a scientist as a bhramana? Sorry, its not so straight forward.
I believe it is a reflection of a person's personality and mental makeup that decides which "varna" he or she belongs to. A CEO of a company can be as much a Shudra, as much as he could be a Vysya (energetic and profit oriented) as much as he could be a Kshatriya (employee friendly, aligning companies and nations interests etc.) as much as he could be a Bhramana (contemplative and scientific study oriented, thinks about how his company can make a big difference to majority of people.) But it is a personal thing and and should be treated accordingly much like a persons bank account details. Varna is only an indicator to the specific religious approach that the individual should adopt for his or her spiritual progress and shouldn't be treated as a social status symbol.
All people (varna's) put together creates this world. Each one takes care of an important activity that drives this world, our home. Similarly, colour's - there are many. All of them put together creates white. For creating white, all are important or more importantly, each one is important.
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