Varnashrama Dharma (वर्णाश्रमधर्मः)

परिचयः ॥ Introduction

The principles of varna and ashrama are founded upon the principles of Purushartha viz. dharma, artha, kama, moksha that are the foundation of India’s culture. These Purusharthas together with varna and ashrama sum up the entire principles of Indian culture. Through the fulfilment of these, life became complete socially, physically, psychologically, intellectually, and spiritually.

Indian Outlook of Life

In order to understand the relevance of Varna and Ashrama concepts, it is esssential to understand the Indian Outlook of life. The perfect outlook of life considers four aspects which form inseparable ingredients of the very notion of perfection viz.

• society
• the individual
• the universe
• God

These four principles sum up the central objectives of what may be called the human perspective.

No man in this world is complete, and no man can be complete.The human personality is an admixture of various levels or, we can say, forces. The wisdom of the ancients was such that they contemplated a system of introducing some sort of perfection into the social order by bringing together the various partial endowments of personalities into an ordered system, which gave the shape of perfection. This vision of perfection took into consideration four objectives of human existence known as the Purusharthas and is worked out through the administration and organisation of society, and the discipline of the individual. The organisation of society took the form of the varna system, and the discipline of the individual took the form of the ashrama system. These are the famous varna and ashrama orders of the regulation of life as a whole.

Varna System

The Varna System, as mentioned above, is the reflection of ancient wisdom on the organisation of the society. Elaborating on this, Swami Krishnananda says, "Everyone has needs, but no one has the capacity to fulfill all their needs. What I have, others may not have; and what others have, I may not have. Therefore, in order that social solidarity may be ensured so that there may be some sort of perfect image produced in the totality of the social structure, the varna system was thought to be the most advisable method to be adopted."

What is Varna ?

‘Varna’ does not actually mean colour in a grammatical sense. It means the colour which is philosophically or metaphysically attributed to the so-called gunas of prakriti—sattva, rajas and tamas. These three properties of prakriti are the basis or the substratum of what are known as the colours. It refers to the colour of the property preponderating in a particular individual in some measure—how much sattva, how much rajas, how much tamas is there in an individual. No one is wholly sattvic, wholly rajasic or wholly tamasic; there is some percentage of each guna in different individuals in various proportions.

The group of individuals who have the capacity to reflect a maximum amount of sattva are those persons who can think better in terms of the higher reason behind things than those who are predominantly rajasic or tamasic. So is the case with the other properties—rajas and tamas. Rajas has a tendency to activate everything, and tends towards energetic movement. Tamas is very heavy, dense and static. It does not move like rajas, and cannot think like sattva.

According to Shabdakalpadruma,

वर्णः जातिः | सा च ब्राह्मणः क्षत्रियो वैश्यः शूद्रश्च |

varṇaḥ jātiḥ | sā ca brāhmaṇaḥ kṣatriyo vaiśyaḥ śūdraśca |

Meaning: Shabdakalpadruma describes Varna as Jati (जातिः) and enumerates 4 kinds viz. Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra.

The Origin of Varna Concept

Talking of the Origin of Varna Concept, Shabdakalpadruma says,

एषामुत्पत्त्यादिर्यथा | यदा भगवान् पुरुषरूपेण सृष्टिं कृतवान् तदास्यशरीरात् चत्वारो वर्णा उत्पन्नाः | मुखतो ब्राह्मणाः बाहुतः क्षत्रियाः ऊरुतो वैश्याः पादतः शूद्रा जाताः |

eṣāmutpattyādiryathā | yadā bhagavān puruṣarūpeṇa sṛṣṭiṃ kṛtavān tadāsyaśarīrāt catvāro varṇā utpannāḥ | mukhato brāhmaṇāḥ bāhutaḥ kṣatriyāḥ ūruto vaiśyāḥ pādataḥ śūdrā jātāḥ |

Meaning: When Bhagavan created the world in the form of Purusha, the four varnas got created from his body. From the mouth - the brahmanas, from the arm - the kshatriyas, from the thigh - the vaishyas and from the feet - the Shudras were born. This concept is first found in verse 12 of the Purusha Sukta in the Rgveda (Mandala 10, Sukta 90). It says,

ब्राह्मणोऽस्य मुखमासीद्बाहू राजन्यः कृतः । ऊरू तदस्य यद्वैश्यः पद्भ्यां शूद्रो अजायत ॥१२॥ (Rig.10.90.12)

brāhmaṇo'sya mukhamāsīdbāhū rājanyaḥ kṛtaḥ । ūrū tadasya yadvaiśyaḥ padbhyāṃ śūdro ajāyata ॥12॥

Meaning: The Brahmana was his mouth, of both his arms was the Rajanya made. His thighs became the Vaishya, from his feet the Sudra was produced.

This image that we have in the Purusha Sukta of the Veda is illustrative of a very important significance hidden behind this system, namely, the organic character of people. As the human body is one organic completeness, society is also supposed to be that. The body is supported by the legs which stand firmly on the ground, and the legs are connected to the main trunk through the thighs, and there is the trunk, the whole body, and there is the voice which speaks the wisdom thought by the mind. That there is a cooperative action in an organism of the human personality is well known to every person, and we have no partiality or favouritism in regard to any limb of our body. It is improper to think that the legs are inferior to the head, the heart, the trunk, the arms, etc. says Swami Krishnananda.

The intention of any type of organisation, including the organisation of the physical body itself, is not to pinpoint the superiority or the inferiority of any particular aspect or organ, but to achieve the collective focusing of force, and the cooperation that is behind these apparently isolated limbs, for a purpose entirely transcendent to themselves.

The Purpose of Varna System

Social integration and personal integration are absolutely necessary prior to our endeavor at cosmic integration and divine integration. We do not exist for our own selves, we exist for a purpose which is beyond ourselves.There is need for organisation of society because when we come together in a group, we have a greater strength; therefore, there is a chance of achieving greater success. Thus, we come together in a group, in a team spirit, and create a cumulative effect which will achieve the purpose.Also, the attempt of the ancient masters in India was to transform every activity into a form of spirituality; With this intention, it was endeavored that even the humdrum activities of life in the midst of human society be converted into a highly purposeful worship, we should say, for the attainment of a superior goal. Because, there is a cosmic urge towards a higher evolutionary achievement, and we have to contribute whatever we can, under the circumstances we are placed, towards an ushering in of a better day and a greater light by way of this evolutionary activity or movement. Hence, the envisagement of this structure of the varna system has a part to play in the system of the evolution of the universe itself.

The Rationale behind the Varna System

As no man is complete—no man is wholly spiritual, no man is wholly intellectual or rational, no man is wholly emotional or active, and no man is wholly capable of manual work, etc.—a necessity is felt to bring together the various partialities into a wholeness for the welfare of society.

Every action is preceded by a thought. The thought is the constitution that we lay at the very outset before we implement a procedure. Hence, there must be people to think of the way to organize things.There would be the thinking or the rational type of people who contribute their might of knowledge for the purpose of the wholesome evolution and growth of society in its entirety; others would work vigorously by contributing their own abilities to maintain the organisational order or system; others would help in a third manner, by providing the economic means of sustenance; and there should also be people who would act like the pillars of the entire edifice of society, the footstool of the whole picture called human organisation. That we need people to work, and we need people to provide the economic means of sustenance by the procedure is well known. There is also a need for organisation and administration. And there is, above all, a need to think. Therefore, the Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras are not superior and inferior types of people in society. This very poor interpretation is a travesty of the originally good-intentioned system.

Ashrama System

It has already been enumerated above that the organisation of the society took the form of the Varna System. However, it is not enough if we have an organisation of skeleton individuals. They must be powerful individuals. And so the ancient adepts did not forget the need to discipline the individual.The more the capacity of an individual, the greater also is the strength of society. Healthy, robust, well-educated, and highly idealized individuals are necessary for creating a perfect human society. So, while it is necessary to organise individuals into a society because of the partiality of endowments of different individuals, it is also necessary, at the same time, to see that the individuals themselves are disciplined and perfected to the extent possible under the circumstances available. This perfection of the individual is attempted through what is known as the ashrama system. 

What is Ashrama ?

Ashrama is an order. It is a stage of life through which one has to pass by means of an educational career and a process of training, whereby the forces or powers of the individual are harnessed for the purpose for which they are intended.The ashramas are four, even as the varnas are four. While the four varnas—Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra—constitute the spiritual, political, economic, and manual aspects of the complete structure of human society, the ashramas—Brahmacharya, Grhastha, Vanaprastha, Sannyasa—constitute another order altogether, which is towards the achievement of individual perfection.

So, the educational process takes the form of ashrama dharma. The ashrama dharma is nothing but a process of education in a school; and our seers of the past visualised the whole of life as a period of studentship. We are students from birth to death. This is mentioned with great emphasis in the Chhandogya Upanishad. It says,

त्रयो धर्मस्कन्धा यज्ञोऽध्ययनं दानमिति प्रथमस्तप एव द्वितीयो ब्रह्मचार्याचार्यकुलवासी तृतीयोऽत्यन्तमात्मानमाचार्यकुलेऽवसादयन्सर्व एते पुण्यलोका भवन्ति ब्रह्मसँस्थोऽमृतत्वमेति ॥ १ ॥

trayo dharmaskandhā yajño'dhyayanaṃ dānamiti prathamastapa eva dvitīyo brahmacāryācāryakulavāsī tṛtīyo'tyantamātmānamācāryakule'vasādayansarva ete puṇyalokā bhavanti brahmasam̐stho'mṛtatvameti ॥ 1 ॥

Meaning:There are three aspects of Dharma. Sacrifice, study of the vedas and giving gifts form the first aspect. Austerity is the second. Wearing out his life in the household of the preceptor practising continence is the third. All these lead to the attainment of virtuous worlds. He who is steadfast in Brahman attains immortality.

The various activities of our lives are parts of our apprenticeship in this school of education called life. And we are educated gradually through the adaptation of our individuality to the reality outside in terms of the levels of our personality, which are especially taken into consideration by the ashrama system. We have levels of individuality; We are the physical body, but we are also, at the same time, the vital force; we are the mind, and we are the intellect and the spirit. We have to enable each of these layers of our personality to blossom into completeness by giving each stage its own due, and considering each stage as a necessary step in the process of education.These four orders only mean that there is a necessity for everyone to keep in mind the principle of perfection present in each person, each individual—and, again, a need for cooperation and collaboration. These stages of life, called the ashramas, are the processes of enabling the flowering of our personality into perfection, which is reached in the highest form of enlightenment.