Varna, Jati and Caste
A balanced guide to varna, jati and caste: what Hindu scriptures say, how caste developed in Indian society, the experience of Dalits, reform movements and caste today.
Caste is one of the most discussed and most sensitive subjects connected with Hinduism. Ancient texts describe a division of society into four classes, called varnas. Indian society developed thousands of hereditary communities, called jatis, ranked by ideas of purity and status. The resulting system brought severe discrimination, especially against those regarded as “untouchable”. Today caste discrimination is illegal in India, and Hindus hold a range of views on how caste relates to their religion.
The four varnas
The earliest reference to the four varnas is in the Purusha Sukta, a late hymn of the Rig Veda (10.90). It describes the sacrifice of a cosmic being, Purusha, from whose body the world is made:
| Varna | From Purusha's | Traditional role |
|---|---|---|
| Brahmins | Mouth | Priests, teachers and scholars |
| Kshatriyas | Arms | Rulers and warriors |
| Vaishyas | Thighs | Farmers, herders and merchants |
| Shudras | Feet | Labourers and servants of the other three |
The first three varnas were called “twice-born” (dvija), because their males underwent the sacred thread initiation, regarded as a second birth. Later law books, such as the Laws of Manu, set out different duties, rights and punishments for each varna.
Jati: caste in practice
The word “caste” comes from the Portuguese casta, meaning “lineage” or “breed”. In everyday life, the units that matter most are not the four varnas but the jatis: thousands of local, hereditary groups, often linked to a traditional occupation. People traditionally married within their own jati, and rules about food, touch and ritual purity governed relations between groups.
Below or outside the varna system were communities regarded as “untouchable”, often because their traditional work, such as handling dead animals or cleaning, was considered polluting. They suffered severe exclusion, including being barred from temples, wells and schools. Today many people from these communities call themselves Dalits, meaning “broken” or “oppressed”.
Birth or character?
Hindus have long debated whether varna is determined by birth or by qualities and conduct. In the Bhagavad Gita (4.13), Krishna says that he created the four varnas according to guna (qualities) and karma (actions). Many modern Hindus read this as meaning that varna should depend on character and ability, not birth. Others note that the classical law books clearly assume varna is hereditary.
Challenges and reform
- Bhakti saints: many saints of the bhakti movement taught that devotion matters more than birth, and some, such as Ravidas, Chokhamela and Nandanar, came from communities regarded as low or untouchable.
- Reform movements: nineteenth-century movements such as the Brahmo Samaj and Arya Samaj criticised caste discrimination. See Reform movements.
- Gandhi campaigned against untouchability, while defending a reformed version of varna, a position many criticised.
- B. R. Ambedkar (1891–1956), a Dalit jurist and the chief architect of India's constitution, argued that caste could not be reformed and must be abolished. In 1956 he converted to Buddhism with hundreds of thousands of followers.
Colonial influence
Historians have shown that British rule shaped caste in important ways. Colonial censuses classified and ranked castes, and administrators relied on Brahmin interpretations of texts such as the Laws of Manu, which arguably made caste more rigid and more uniform than before. Caste was nevertheless a long-established social reality well before British rule.
Caste today
India's constitution, adopted in 1950, abolished untouchability (Article 17) and banned caste discrimination. It also introduced reserved places in education, government jobs and legislatures for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Caste discrimination persists, particularly in rural areas and in marriage, but its role has changed greatly, especially in cities. Many Hindus regard caste as a social institution rather than an essential part of their religion and reject caste discrimination as contrary to the teaching that the same divine self (Atman) is present in all.
In Britain, there has been debate about whether caste discrimination should be explicitly covered by equality law. In 2018 the government decided not to add caste as a separate category to the Equality Act 2010, while courts have indicated that some caste discrimination may already fall within the Act's protection on grounds of ethnic origin.
Sources and further reading
- Susan Bayly, Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age (Cambridge University Press, 1999).
- Nicholas Dirks, Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India (Princeton University Press, 2001).
- B. R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste (1936).
- Patrick Olivelle (trans.), The Law Code of Manu (Oxford World's Classics, 2004).