Indian Caste System – A study by Satya Sarada Kandula

Authorship and Copyright Notice : This is an original study and analysis by

Satya Sarada Kandula. All Rights Reserved.
Indian Caste System – A study by Satya Sarada Kandula...................................................1
Indian Caste System: Then and Now: Jati, Varna, Kula..................................................3
Brahmans Then and Brahmins Now................................................................................9
Caste System..................................................................................................................15
Indian Caste System: Then and Now: Jati,
Varna, Kula
Authorship and Copyright Notice: All Rights Reserved : Satya Sarada Kandula
In this article I try to explore the concept of caste in India.
• The english word ‘Caste’ sometimes indicates Varna (category) and sometimes
indicate jathi.
• The sanskrit word kula, sometimes indicates caste and sometimes indicates
dynasty. It has a lot to do with occupation and with birth.
• Below, I explain what other thinkers and researchers have said and I also provide
my own view.
• The rather free society of Sri Rama’s time had rigid-ified somewhat by Sri Krishna’s
time.
• Genetic studies do not add clarity yet as each study throws up a different result and
reflects some of the initial assumptions of the researcher.
• I am of the view that the racial classification situation today in USA is somewhat
like the jathi system of ancient times (pre-Krishna).
• Krishna’s effort was to bring 4 classes in the place of 4000 Jathis, and based on
ability, nature and accomplishment, not based on birth. Please read on.
List of the sections in this article:
1. Prof. M.N. Srinivas (a great sociologist)
2. 20th century Leaders (Gandhiji, Ambedkar)
3. 21st century thinking (Gurumurthy)
4. Valmiki Ramayana
5. Sri Krishna
6. Mahabharata
7. Upanishads

8. Kautilya ArthaSastra
9. Mrcchakatikam
10. Personal View
11. Caste Today
12.Genome Research

Prof. M.N. Srinivas (a great sociologist):

• He said (in 1950) that there are about 4000 Jatis in India, and that includes about
1000 Muslim and Christian Jatis.
• Jatis are not really based on religion. The Sanskrit root ‘Ja’ is related to birth.
So a Jathi is a set of people that typically marry within that set. (In America today a
black is more likely to marry a black than a white.) People of one Jathi are more closely
related than people of two different Jathis. This does not matter much among the rich
and powerful urbanites, but in the towns and villages, jathi matters. See : Nehru –
Pandit – Khan - Gandhi
 • M.N. Srinivas tells us how every jathi, learned the habits and culture of the ‘higher’
varnam (class) and underwent a process of Sanskritisation, to belong to a higher
varnam. It was easy to acieve a Kshatriya Varna, by fighting and winning and getting the
brahmans to validate it.
• But the brahmans are both a jathi and a varna rolled into one, so no other jathi could
ever become brahmin, even though they had all the ‘gunas’ and did all the
‘karma’. Like, Obama can become the President of the United States but he can never
become a white man.
• Similarly, the panchama varnam, or the 5th varnam, which was merely supposed to
hold all the non-productive people, initially, could eventually never cross into the 4th
varnam. They were segregated and disallowed. The panchamas or the fifth are today
called the Dalits and there are very many jathis and sub-jathis among them.
20th century Leaders: There were many national leaders like Gandhiji, Ambedkar and
others who came up with many original ideas to solve this problem. There has been some
economic progress, some legal reform and some social change.
• But when people of these jathis convert to Christianity or to Islam, they still retain
their jathi. The government allows them all the same affirmative rights even after
conversion. Ambedkar himself suggested Buddhism as the best choice for conversion.

21st century thinking: S Gurumurthy (guru@gurumurthy.net) is a political and economic

commentator and corporate consultant. He said in the Hindu (19/1/2009 – Vijayawada) that
• Caste is good for economic development. He says that caste creates a very strong
bond.
• “Individuals are linked by families and and families are linked by caste.

• Our Constitution is individual centric unlike our caste collective society.

• Caste based politics mediates between traditional society and the modern state in
India.
• The entrepreneurship generated by the Patel caste dominates 2/3rds of the global
diamond trade. The Nadar caste runs over 3/4ths of the retail trade, match works and
fireworks in Tamil Nadu. In Tirupur, Goundar caste entrepreneurs, 80% of whom are
not even matriculates compete at the global level, exporting knitwear garments valued
at over 2 billion $. Many castes have risen to the global level using their kinship based
social capital.
• Traditional caste by re-orienting itself seems to be handling modernity well. It is the
modern elite whose views about caste are outdated and do not know how
to handle caste.”
Valmiki Ramayana:
• Here you hear about many Jathis but not much about Varnas. Sri Rama
himself was a friend of the Nishada king, Guha, the Vanara king, Sugreeva and
the Rakshasa king Vibheeshana. A rksha warriorJambavantha fought side by side with
Rama in his battle against the rakshasa king Ravana, who Sri Rama fought and killed
was the son of a brahman father Visrava and a Rakshasa mother, Kaikasi. Antarjateeya
Vivahams or Inter-Jathi marriages happened a good deal in Sri Rama’s times.
Parasurama’s father’s mother, was Satyavati the sister of Viswamitra, a king who
became a brahman by his tapas. While the Uttarakanda says that Valmiki was a
 Brahmarshi and a Bhargava, much popular lore sees Valmiki variously as a Bhil, a
kirata, a nishada or an adivasi.
• In the Balakanda, there is a short mention of Parasurama, who was born in a family
of Brahmins, the Bhrgus, who was very warrior like in his temperament. Parasurama
Bhargava fought and killed Kartavirya Arjuna, a powerful king, in retaliation for killing
his father. Then he fought 21 more times eliminating all the Kshatriyas who sought
revenge.
• There is a lot more on jathis in the Uttarakanda, particularly the rakshasa jathi.
Marriages between jathis were exceedingly common, generally with a view to progeny.
Anjana’s son Hanuman was known both as Kesari Putra and Vayu Putra., the first (a
Vanara) being his legal father and the second (a Deva) being his biological father.
Hanuman proudly announces himself as such to Sita Devi, it was normal, not taboo.
Sri Krishna :
• By the time Sri Krishna lived, every ‘antarjathi’ had acquired a name, and
was disallowed normal priviliges.
• The jathi system had become both complex and rigid. for eg Karna, the adopted son
of Adhiratha was called a Suta Putra, with a Suta being the son of a brahman
mother and a kshatriya father and therefore ineligible to rule a kingdom.
• Sri Krishna was quite fed up. So, He created Four Varnams (Classes) based on guna
(qualities) and karma(action). (See the Bhagavad Gita and the Vishnu Purana). ….
Sri Krishna himself was a Yadava, a descendant of Yadu (the son of a brahman mother –
Devayani and princely father – Yayati). Yadu was deprived of the kingdom and it went
to his half brother.
• Sri Krishna’s close friend Sudama was a poor brahman and another friend Vidura
was a halfcaste son of a brahman father Vyasa and a sudra maidservant. Vyasa,
himself, was the son of brahman father and a fishergirl mother. The pandavas were
descended from Devas and Yadavas…..
• Sri Krishna said that all the brave warriors who fought for the country should be one
caste – the kshatriyas. (No more sutas and yadavas and nagas and rakshasas and so
forth). All the learners and thinkers who preserved the knowledge of the society would
be brahmans. All the traders would be vaisyas. All the skilled engineers, craftsmen,
farmers, the mainstay of society would be the Sudras. And all the folks who refused to
work, could stay outside the society.
• Bhishma supported him in this concept as did many thinkers and rulers of the time.
Sri Krishna did not respect the do-nothingers much… Sri Krishna disposed of the
word jathi and put in a new word Varna.And he truly believed that there should
and would be only 4 classes of people based on their nature and their actions and not
4000 jathis based on genetics. By this count he too would be kshatriya and not a yadava
or a cowherd. Sri Krishna was a social reformer…. Sri Krishna said that
knowledge was higher than defence. That defence was higher than commerce. And that
commerce was higher than production. The effect of Sri Krishna ranking the 4
varnas, was that every jathi liked to register itself as belonging to a
‘higher’ Varna, without letting go of their jathi. The issue was that it was easier
to identify a person’s parentage than to judge their qualities or actions. Varnas got
added to Jathis.
Mahabharata:
• In the Santhi Parva, Bhrigu Maharshi attributes the creation of the varnas to Brahma
and assigns colours to them.
• But Bharadvaja argues that all humans have the same physiology and
emotions, so why this difference of varnas even?
 • In the Vanaparva of the Mahabharata it is said that it is pointless to
talk of a person’s jathi because of the huge intermixing.
• It says that cultured behaviour is more important than breeding. It
says that a brahmana is one who possesses virtuous conduct and has
nothing to do with birth at all. Since everyone is born from the creator
Brahma, all are brahmans.
• Sukraniti also supports this view.

• Sri Krishna says that such a virtuous and devout person (Brahmana) is a
representative of himself and must be respected. (Even as today we respect our cultured
professors and gurus.) …. In the Shanthi Parva, Parasara,Vyasa’s father says
that every person should strive to be virtuous to be called a human being
and it does not matter to whom they are born.
Upanishads: In the story of Satyakama Jabali, we learn that, whoever is truthful, is worthy
of being initiated into vedic studies even if her has no known father and no known lineage.
Kautilya ArthaSastra: This Arthasastra quotes the authority of the Vedas and
states that:
” Varna Dharma: The duty of the Brahman is study, teaching, performance of sacrifice,
officiating in others’ sacrificial performance and the giving and receiving of gifts.That of a
Kshatriya is study, performance of sacrifice, giving gifts, military occupation, and protection
of life. That of a Vaisya is study, performance of sacrifice, giving gifts, agriculture, cattle
breeding, and trade. That of a Sudra is the serving of twice-born (dvijati), agriculture, cattle-
breeding, and trade (varta), the profession of artizans and court-bards (karukusilavakarma).
Asrama Dharma: The duty of a householder is earning livelihood by his own profession,
marriage among his equals of different ancestral Rishis, intercourse with his wedded wife
after her monthly ablution, gifts to gods, ancestors, guests, and servants, and the eating of
the remainder. That of a student (Brahmacharin) is learning the Vedas, fire-worship,
ablution, living by begging, and devotion to his teacher even at the cost of his own life, or in
the absence of his teacher, to the teacher’s son, or to an elder classmate. That of a
Vanaprastha (forest-recluse) is observance of chastity, sleeping on the bare ground, keeping
twisted locks, wearing deer-skin, fire-worship, ablution, worship of gods, ancestors, and
guests, and living upon food stuffs procurable in forests. That of an ascetic retired from the
world (Parivrajaka) is complete control of the organs of sense, abstaining from all kinds of
work, disowning money, keeping from society, begging in many places, dwelling in forests,
and purity both internal and external.
Ahimsa, truthfulness, purity, freedom from spite, abstinence from cruelty, and forgiveness
are duties common to all. The observance of one’s own duty leads one to Svarga and infinite
bliss (Anantya). When it is violated, the world will come to an end owing to confusion of
castes and duties. Hence the king shall never allow people to swerve from their duties; for
whoever upholds his own duty, ever adhering to the customs of the Aryas, and following the
rules of caste and divisions of religious life, will surely. be happy both here and hereafter. For
the world, when maintained in accordance with injunctions of the triple Vedas, will surely
progress, but never perish. [Thus ends Chapter III, "Determination of the place of the Triple
Vedas" among Sciences in Book I, "Concerning Discipline" of the Arthasástra of Kautilya.]“

Mrcchakatikam: One of the interesting comments made on this play by King Sudraka, is
that many key characters are contrary to the caste definitions, a thief has kingly qualities and
becomes a king, a courtesan has wifely qualities and marries a brahman, and the king’s
brother-in-law is a lecher. It is believed by some that this work is about 5 centuries prior
to Kalidasa’s works.
Personal View:
• Will the jathis, ever disappear? M.N. Srinivas did not think so. I don’t know.

• I don’t think it is necessary for Jathis or for gender or for religion to

disappear.
• I think it is necessary for people to respect people for what they do and
what they are like.
• Karma and Guna . I think it is important for everyone to get a chance to pursue the
careers they like.
• And I think it is important for people to not look down on other people, not to ill-
treat or enslave them, not to convert them and not to kill them. Just to leave them
be.
• I think the earth should celebrate its diversity and differences, else,
what a boring planet this would be!
• An encounter with Devangas. My personal experience with Caste, Race, Gender,
Religion, Nationality & Regionalism.
Caste Today : To get an understanding of the caste (jathi) system as it exists today, I have
begun collecting links to various caste web-sites and articles on problems faced by different
jathis. You will find them here:http://satyask.wordpress.com/caste-system/
Genome Research: I found links to studies with different conclusions.
http://genome.cshlp.org/content/13/10/2277.full : “The results provide genomic
evidence that (1) there is an underlying unity of female lineages in India, indicating that the
initial number of female settlers may have been small; (2) the tribal and the caste
populations are highly differentiated; (3) the Austro-Asiatic tribals are the earliest settlers in
India, providing support to one anthropological hypothesis while refuting some others; (4) a
major wave of humans entered India through the northeast; (5) the Tibeto-Burman tribals
share considerable genetic commonalities with the Austro-Asiatic tribals, supporting the
hypothesis that they may have shared a common habitat in southern China, but the two
groups of tribals can be differentiated on the basis of Y-chromosomal haplotypes; (6) the
Dravidian tribals were possibly widespread throughout India before the arrival of the Indo-
European-speaking nomads, but retreated to southern India to avoid dominance; (7)
formation of populations by fission that resulted in founder and drift effects have left their
imprints on the genetic structures of contemporary populations; (8) the upper castes show
closer genetic affinities with Central Asian populations, although those of southern India are
more distant than those of northern India; (9) historical gene flow into India has
contributed to a considerable obliteration of genetic histories of
contemporary populations so that there is at present no clear congruence of genetic and
geographical or sociocultural affinities.
… In a recent study conducted on ranked caste populations sampled from one southern
Indian State (Andhra Pradesh), Bamshad et al. (2001) have found that the genomic affinity
to Europeans is proportionate to caste rank—the upper castes being most similar to
Europeans, particularly East Europeans, whereas the lower castes are more similar to
Asians. These findings are consistent with the migration of IE groups into India*, the
establishment of the caste system, and subsequent recruitment of indigenous people into the
caste fold. Because the Indian samples for this study were drawn from one
geographical area, whether we can safely generalize these findings needs to
be investigated.”
*(there is considerable debate about the Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT) – here I
am just quoting the paper, as a data gathering exercise. I believe that there
was a lot of interaction and blending in ancient times and people came and
went in and out of India. But I do not believe in the AIT – Satya)
http://www.orientalthane.com/science/news_2009_01_26.htm : “The Indian
origin of paternal haplogroup R1a1(*) substantiates the autochthonous (originating where
found) origin of Brahmins and the caste system. “
Brahmans Then and Brahmins Now.
Authorship and Copyright Notice : All Rights Reserved: Satya Sarada Kandula
The Indian Caste System is not dead. All that has happened is that brahmins
have lost their place in the caste hierarchy that was decreed by Manu Smrti –
due to the Muslim Rule, the British Rule and Finally Political Independence
from British Rule. In this article I try to explore brahmans and their situation
through the ages.

Most of the seers (rshis) of the Vedas were brahmans. Most of

the ancient mathematicians were brahmans. Much of the literature in Sanskrit was
composed by brahmans. So who were the brahmans exactly?
Brahmins are one of the jathi sets of India. A jathi is not a species or a race. But it has to do
with which family you are born into (parentage) and which families you will marry into.
In Karnataka alone there are more than 400 Brahman Jathis. Sri Krishna categorised all
the 4000 odd jathis into 4 Varnas, based on gunas (qualities) and karma (actions). He said
that the foremost of the varnas would be called the brahmanas and they would eschew
wealth and arms and focus only on theThe Brahman (the great, or the absolute).
They would see Him or That in everything and would therefore never harm themselves or
others and be above the duality of like and dislike. In return for the sacrifice of power and
wealth they would get status. They would represent Him on earth and would be worthy of
great respect and should never be killed or hurt. This was close to 3100 BC, near the end of
Dwapara Yuga, at the end of the Vedic-Upanishadic age, at the time when the Saraswathi
River was drying up and when the Sindhu Valley civilization was just starting up. At this
time, the Ganga, Godavari and Krishna civilizations were doing as well as ever, if not even
better.
The brahmans relinquished their arms and wealth at Sri Krishna’s word, accepted the high
status offered and were not worried as long as he was alive. (You can contrast the
behaviour of Krishna with Sudama and of Drupada with Drona. Both indicate a Kshatriya
– Brahmana friendship., the former with honour and love and the latter with pride and
revenge).
But with Krishna’s death and the onset of Kaliyuga, they were fairly sure that they would
have it bad at the hands of those with power and wealth… so they went
to Naimisaranya and performed a Yajna invoking the Devas, to protect them from the
Kaliyuga which would have evil effects for them.
As it turned out, Yudhisthira’s grandson, Parikshit was a noble ruler who more or
less protected the brahman way of life for another 60 years or therabouts. (Parikshit
himself is said to have decorated a rishi with a dead snake – when the rshi was too busy
meditating to pay attention to him). Parikshit died at the hands of Takshaka, considered to
be a Naga king. Parikshit’s son, Janamejaya had revenge on the Nagas, but Takshak
himself escaped with support from Indra.
With the passing on of Parikshit, there was hardly anyone who could judge a person’s guna
and karma and decide who was a brahman and who was not. The children of the
Brahmans, dressed and behaved like them and learnt the Vedas from them, and were taken
to be brahmans, whether or not the science and spirituality of the Vedas was their calling.
This led, on the one hand to great geniuses like Aryabhatta, Kalidasa
and Varahamihira and on the other hand to people who ‘mugged up’ the Vedas and felt
stifled by the forced ‘life of virtue’.
The brahmans of the Vedic-Upanishadic age (Saraswathi-Ganga civilization)., lived life
from first principles. They ate meat, educated their daughters (Garga), learned and taught
weaponry and fought in wars (Bharadwaja, Drona, Pasurama, Krpacharya). They tilled
land, taught agriculture and found water sources (Gauthama). They married princesses
(Rcka, Richika), rakshasis (Visravas), and fishergirls (Parasara) and owned the children
and raised them like brahmans. They freely gave vent to their anger and pronounced
a sapa (curse) on those who showed them disrespect
(Durvasa, Vasishtha). Viswamitra turned brahmana from kshatriya and attained the high
status of brahmarshi. He was the rshi of the Gayathri Mantram.
With the Saraswathi River drying up, some people moved west, where they settled along
the Sindhu, building their towns as per the Vaasthu Sastra rules followed by Viswakarma
Deva in designing Indraprastha and other cities. Every time the Sindhu flooded, they built
their cities more and more carelessly.., their best excavated city is at the bottom. The others
moved east, north east, south and south east. The Yadavas under Vajra
(Indraprastha), the Kauravas under Yuyutsu (the son of Dhritarashtra and a
Vaisya woman) and the Pandavas (Purus) under Parikshit (Hastinapura),
were left in charge by Yudhisthira when he left on his final walk
(Mahaprasthanam).
In the Vedic age itself, Narada and Kapila had advocated Ahimsa
and Sukracharya forbade brahmans from consuming alcohol. Subsequently Gauthama
Buddha challenged the worship of Agni and decried animal sacrifice, drawing his
lineage from the ‘Buddhas before him’, such as Kapila. At this time abstinence from alcohol
and meat, were further strengthened among the brahmans.
When we look at the Brahman situation in the Mauryan times, we see that the
brahman Chanakya was insulted by a drunken and unrepentant Mahapadma Nanda. We
see Chankaya as a professor at Takshashila, as a king maker who put Chandragupta
Maurya on the throne and as the author of several works of which the Kautilya
Arthasastra is the siromani (jewel on the head). We see brahman teachers speaking out
against the king, but not fighting with arms. We see brahmans being
imprisoned for speaking up. At this time, we still see the fighting spirit of the
Brahmans, though their tools were strategy and politics, and not axes and
bows.
In the times that followed some brahmanas allied with kshatriyas and said that any king
must be the representative of Vishnu on earth. One set of brahmans who allied with kings
are called Niyogis. One set of the brahmans who stuck to their Vedic practices and poverty
are called Vaidikis.While some brahmans rejected kingly gifts and patronage for eg,
Pothana, Thyagayya, there were many who would bend their pens and skills in praise and
support of the king.
“It was said that King Govinda IV of Rastrakuta gave brahmins 1400 villages along with
large sums of money. The brahmins became the first Indian bureaucrats and they extended
their power beyond their traditional religious duties. The brahmins were considered well
suited for the job, because, drawing on scriptural authority, the Bhagavata Purana
reasoned that “they possess nothing, still having no craving for wealth and kingdom.”
(Source)
During the muslim rule, The Hanafi interpretation of shari’ah was used by Qasim to treat
Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains as zhimmis, People of the Book, the same status accorded to
Jews and Christians. That meant that they could continue to live under Islamic rule as long
as they paid their religious tax (jizyah). Yet another concession to the Hindus was that out
of respect for the Brahmins, Qasim decided to give them 3 percent of his government’s
revenues.” (Source)
Between the Moghul and British rule, The Brahmin Peshwas of Maharashtra who were
initially the prime ministers of the Maratha Empire, and became the de facto rulers of
greater Maharashtra (from 1749 to 1818).
During the British Rule, there was a deliberate effort by the British colonial rulers to
discredit brahmans and their knowledge., to increase their own control over Indian
society. Westernization broke both legs of brahman power – knowledge and respect. Many
brahmans themselves acquired western education, western habits, western values and
gave up their traditional place in society. They were now allowed to “earn money” and
“spend it on style and comfort”. They not only became professors of maths and english and
allopathic doctors, but they also became clerks, lawyers and administrators. But Western
knowledge was not restricted or exclusive., anyone could acquire it. While I firmly hold that
Vedic knowledge was both scientific and spiritual, western science is easily accessible and
can duplicate all the miracles that our Itihasas describe. A study of Vedic science and
mathematics has many values but it no longer interests the man in the street who wants to
do good for himself! (Maya Sabha - Claytronics?)
Brahmins Today: The brahmin stereotype is that “they are well-educated and are
salaried employees, generally middle class, generally white collar and often employed in
the government. Brahmins are considered a forward caste.” The reservation policy works
against them and some of them are in very bad shape. It is a fairly frequent statement in
brahmin families to hear “we have nothing but our education and if you don’t study, we
have nothing to fall back upon”. Compared to other Indian castes they have the lowest
dowry rate. (The dowry rate is an indicator of disposable liquid wealth.) Some places
have brahmin associations funded by NRI’s which pay for the education (Western
or Vedic) of economically backward brahmin children). Brahmins are generally, though
not always, vegetarians. Many are physically thin and wiry. They are considered timid by
temperament. They are generally considered non-confrontational.
Notes :
1. Brahmana Warriors: The Bhargavas were fierce warriors for eg Parasurama
fought the Kshatriyas 21 times and won before he was finally overcome by the younger
and stronger Sri Rama. The father of the Kausikas,Viswamitra was a powerful Kshatriya
before he turned brahman. Dronacharya, a Bharadwaja, was a master of weaponry, a
teacher of the Pandavas and Kauravas and a warrior who could not be defeated until he
layed down his arms voluntarily. In the Vedic times, brahmans ate meat and drank
alcohol (soma rasa). They were a force to be reckoned with even till the time of the
Mahabharata. Agastya himself wielded an axe on occasion. Bharadwaja was adopted by
 a Kshatriya, ruled a kingdom and renounced it. He and Agnivesha taught Drona
weaponry. Drona’s son Aswatthama ruled part of Panchala. Ahimsa was not a brahman
concept.
2. Brahmana Anger: Brahmanas are stereotypically described as satvik, in the
sense of gentle or passive. But all of them were prone to anger ( a rajasic trait), and were
capable of prouncing curses. Durvasa is the most famous for his temper, Viswamitra had
to give it up to become a brahmarishi, but even the gentle Vasishtha got angry with king
Nimi and pronounced a curse on him. It was a common belief that blessings (vara) and
curses (saapa) pronounced by brahmans come true, because they are committed to
truth. You do not want to see them reach for a kamandalam (water-pot), say a mantram
over the water and sprinkle that water on you! Even today it is common to seek the
blessings of Sat Brahmanas (good brahmans) on auspicious occasions.
3. Brahmans and Agriculture: Gauthama Maharshi not only settled on
Brahmagiri, but he also developed the land, discovered water sources and taught
agriculture to the people who came to live in his settlement. See
also:http://ancientindians.wordpress.com/gautama-maharshi-as-an-irrigation-expert/
4. Brahman Lineage : The brahmans were descendants of Brahma, but they freely
intermarried with other jathis. Brahman lineage can be used to trace the number of
generations between Sri Rama and Sri Krishna.
5. Brahman Marriages : Agastya married Lopamudra a Kshatriya princess of
Vidarbha. Richika (Bhargava) married princess Satyavati, Viswamitra’s sister.
RisyaSringa married princess Santa, Dasaratha’s daughter. Parasara owned and raised
his son Krishna Dwaipayana (Veda Vyasa), borne by a fisherwoman Satyavati. Some
Saraswat brahmans claim their descent from Veda Vyasa. Sukracharya’s daughter
Devayani was the first wife of Yayati, a Kshatriya and their son Yadu was Sri Krishna’s
ancestor. Pulastya’s son, Visrava, married Kaikasi (a rakshasi) and fathered Ravana.
There is a high rate of inter-caste, inter-state inter-race and even inter-religion
marriages among urban brahmins even today. See Also : Nehru’s descendants
Brahman Alliances : Brahmans as a jathi, have always been considered experts in
Rajaniti (politics) and have forged many political alliances over time.
1. Devas: Initially, the brahmans worshipped the devas, as per special rites using
special mantras. The devas attended these rituals called Yajnas. (The word yaj means to
worship). They accepted their share of the offerings. Soma Rasa (a kind of alcohol) was
made from plants and animals were freshly slaughtered. The devas protected the
brahmans and their Yajnas. The devas never seemed to have performed Yajnas
themselves. Indra is called SataKratu, which means a 100 times talented or powerful,
but some people think it means he performed 100 kratus (sacrifices). The east coast of
Andhra Pradesh where the Krishna and Godavari enter the Bay of Bengal, is full of
places associated with Devas and their names. This is where the Devas may have lived.
As per the puranas, the Devas were forever fighting the Asuras for control of the earth.
Some Asuras were noble kings, like Prahlada and Mahabali. Some Asuras were not fond
of brahmans and went out of their way to destroy the Yajnas and pollute the places of
worship by messing things up. Tarakasura was from the east coast
(Tanuku), Mahishasura was from Mysore, Mooshikasura was from the west coast. In the
early Vedic hymns, Asura was an adjective that meant mighty!. So the brahmans and
devas always sided with each other. Today, the brahmins believe that the devas have
magical or mystical powers and that they can control the forces of nature. They believe
firmly that the devas can be invoked by mantras even when they are physically far away.
(Click here: for an astronomical perspective of Devas and Asuras.)
2. Dalits: “ The 2007 state election demonstrated Mayawati’s ability to build cross-
caste alliances on economic and social issues. Since 2002, for example, she has built
support for the BSP among Brahmins, traditionally at the apex of the caste structure.
 Just as Dalits fear the landholding castes in the middle of the caste system, so Brahmins
in Uttar Pradesh have felt their position threatened by this group. Mayawati showed
herself just as capable of addressing Brahmin fears of middle-caste self-assertion as she
was of mobilising Dalit identity. The approach paid off; the party increased its share of
Brahmin votes in the state election from 6 per cent in 2003 to 17 per cent in 2007.
Mayawati campaigned on a platform of law and order, and on a promise of equal
development, irrespective of caste. Coupled with some careful handing out of party
tickets to ensure that all castes were well represented, it was enough to win her
power”. (Source)
Brahman Associations : Quotes and Notes From : Brahmins in the modern
world, Association as enunciation, Ramesh Bairy T.S (Ramesh Bairy T.S. is at the
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay,
Powai, Mumbai 400 076. Email: rameshbairy@gmail.com)
“The state recognises caste as a measure of the in/equality among communities. Caste
associations have been important in this quest for equality. Caste Associations have emerged
because of the demand for an equitable and representative distribution of modern resources
– education and employment. The single most defining ground of justification for Brahmin
Associations is a sense of siege – of the brahmins under duress. The Brahmin Jathi
Associations try to support poorer brahmins with money and hostel facilities for education.
The Brahmin Secular Associations try to work for Brahmin Unity, Pride and Identity, at a
time when people try to hide the fact that they are brahmins or apologise for it.”
Thai Brahminism

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Kandula
Caste System
Articles on the system:

Jati, Varna, Kula, Caste. Caste system among South Asian Muslims Caste System among

Christians Latin American Caste System IndoEuropean Caste System Brahmans Then and

Brahmins Now.

Troubled castes:

Lambadis: A people on the outer edge of life in the margins Brahmin Dalits Haila

Muslims

Caste Politics:

Lingayats and Vokkaligas in BJP and JD (S)

Caste Web-Sites :

Kashmiri

Pundits Madigas (Dalits) Viswakarmas Kapus Reddys Kammas Valmikis Vokkaligas Li

ngayats Rajputs

Bunts Khedwal brahmins Gowda Saraswat Brahmins (GSBs) of Kerala Kiratas of

Nepal Yadava Alliances Devadigas

Caste Origins (Histories):

GSB Vokkaliga and Bangalore History

Tribes of India :

Census Data : (2001 census) scheduled castes and tribes of Andhra Pradesh.

Blog about Tribes of India

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Kandula