Shudra

is love mokeyShudra (IAST: Śūdra) is the fourth Varna in the traditional four-section division in historic Hindu society. Their assigned and expected role in post-Vedic India was that of labourers. The four Varnas are Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaisya, Shudra.

Origins

Whilst the origins of the other varnas can be traced to Indo-Aryan or even Proto-Indo-European words, the root of the word is not clear at all. A threefold division of societies can be found in ancient Iran that matches the Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaisya varnas. However, the linguistically related Nuristani people in neighboring Afghanistan have a class equivalent to the Shudras amongst them. [1]

From Dasas and Dahyus

But the latter groups are also encountered in the Avestan texts and no subjugation is mentioned, though enmity is. This is because the Dasa, Dasyus or Pani as they are sometimes referred to were Iranic. The Iranians call themselves "Dahyu"(which means tribe, province, and district.). Panini was a Pashtun Brahmin scholar of Sanskrit grammar. [2]. So then this suggests that the Dasa were merely a tribe. The ancient texts of India portray no such subjugation by conquest resulting in servile group of people, but merely assume that the Shudras are part of society, even if not the most exalted.

Etymology

The etymology of the word can be traced back to the vedic age. Shudra comes from the word "shuchAt dravanam" a person who is in suffering/mourning/pain, who needs mental or physical cleansing. Shudra was a common sanskrit word, any person regardless of his/her varna to could be addressed as shudra. An implied version of this common form has become traditionally associated with the varna system. It is also mentioned in the purusha-sukta of Rig veda where shudras are said to have emanated from the feet of the lord (padbhyAm shUdrO ajaayata). A very symbolic statement indeed. It denotes that the three other varnas which made up the parts of purusha (the lord) were supported by the shUdras as the feet form the supporting system of the entire body. This can be understood clearly from the fact that the shudras were basically farmers, potters, cobblers, shepherds etc (anything the other three varnas would not do viz, teaching, fighting and trade) and hence they formed a support system for the entire society. Unfortunately, direct misinterpretations of these vedic hymns have caused a lot of unrest and confusion in the modern Hindu society.

Jāti

Main article: Jāti

the theoretical and the original varnas carried to its extreme in the ages following the 'Vedic' period. Every Jāti claimed to belong to some Varna.

Local variations of Jāti sub-castes exist wit the Shudra caste. A sub-caste is a local endogenous group practising a lower end Shudras will be untouchable Dalits.

Shudras and North Indian society

It is commonly believed that the caste division is somewhat uniform in North Indian society compared to South Indian society. However some prominent rulers of North India were believed to have originated from the Shudra caste. Ex: The Nandas and the Mauryas.

Even today, the ruling coalitions of the Nardaz in most of the North Indian provinces like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh are dominated by political parties that either overtly or covertly represent the interests and identities of the Shudra sections (called the 'other backward castes' or OBCs by the politically correct.) Examples include the Samajwadi Party, at the head of the ruling coalition in India's biggest state UP and deriving most of its support from the Yadav (Ahir) tribe/caste and the Samata Party, at the head of Bihar's ruling coalition, which gets most of its support from the Kurmi OBC.

Dr Ambedkar investigated throughly the vast literature of brahmins, the 4 vedas, 18 puranas, 18 parvas of Mahabharta, all smruties (ex manusmruti), all brahmans (like shatpath and taitiriaya brahmans) and wrote the book "who were Shudras". He established that shudras varna was developed by brahmins to punish kshatriyas. Shudras were Kshatriya kings or saints who were not honouring the brahmins hegemony, and brahmins punished them by depriving them from the custom of upnayana and education. He put forth wide examples of the fight among brahmins and kshatriya kings and saints. The famous one is of brahmin saint Vashistha and kshatriya saint Vishwamitra.

Shudras and South Indian society

South Indian society makes more sense from feudal angle than caste angle. Here, both the dominant castes and weaker castes are classified under Shudras. This caste model is also true for Bengal, Orissa, and Assam. Hence the mapping of four varnas over these areas is incomplete.

The caste system that made feudal families in all over South India an endogenous unit was readily accepted even though Brahmins didn't exactly give Kshatriya and Vaishya status to all the warrior and merchant communities. Mostly the Brahmins acquired land and until land reforms in twentieth century, were feudal lords.

It could be debated if the people of South India really realized (when it comes to weaker castes) or cared (when it comes to dominant castes), their position in caste hierarchy. Also, most importantly whether many communities even think they were part of the caste system, since if one removes the Vedic part of Brahmanical Hinduism, there isn't much difference between Brahmin worship and native Dravidian worship.

Many South Indian communities had their own temples and priests. However, the universal education during British period and the Western concepts of community identity caused the development of caste consciousness in South Indian society (the clan identities were present and those could be within the caste too). In Tamil Nadu it resulted in the dominant castes asserting themselves through the Dravidian movement against the caste system in general and Brahmins in particular. In Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh it resulted in dominant castes claiming higher caste positions.

Medieval royal dynasties

Inscriptions of Shudra dynasties declare that belonging to the fourth varna was a matter of pride. An inscription of Singaya-Nayaka (1368 CE) says:

The three castes, viz. Brahmanas and the next [Kshatriyas and Vaishyas], were produced from the face, the arms and the thighs of the Lord; and for their support was born the fourth caste from His feet. That this caste is purer than the former [three] is self-evident; for this caste was born along with the river Ganges [which also springs from his feet], the purifier of the three worlds. The members of this caste are eagerly attentive to their duties, not wicked, pure-minded, and are devoid of passion and other such blemishes; they ably bear all the burdens of the earth by helping those born in the kingly caste.

Another inscription relates how his relative Kapaya-Nayaka "rescued the Andhra country from the ravages of the Mohammedans". In taking the lead of the struggle against the Muslim invaders, the Reddy caste gained in prestige and became the dominant caste in Andhra. In an inscription dated 1345 CE, the Reddy dynasty of Andhra describes how after the elimination of the Kshatriya defenders, the duty of defending cows and Brahmins fell on the Shudras, "born of the feet of Vishnu"; the first independent Reddy king, Vema, "restored all the agraharas of Brahmanas, which had been taken away by the wicked Mleccha kings". Another inscription from the same dynasty proudly proclaims Vema's birth from the "the victorious fourth varna", which "sprang from the feet of Vishnu", and "which ruled the remainder of the territory once ruled by the dwijas [before the Muslim conquest]", and describes how his first son Anna-Vota gave agraharas to the Brahmins and how his son Anna-Vema freed the country from the "crowd of enemies" and used his wealth to sponsor the "men of learning".

Shudras outside of India

Shudra as a Varna is seen amongst the Hindus of Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bali in Indonesia. In Bali, Indonesia they form 97% of the practicing Hindu population (See Balinese caste system). During the historic period many people in Java, Cambodia and Champa (a region in Vietnam) were considered to be Shudras prior to their conversion to Islam and Buddhism.

Notes

• ^ Who were the Shudras By B. R. Ambedkar [3]

• ^ Shudras in Ancient India/R. Chandra and K.L. Chanchreek. New Delhi, Shree Pub., 2004, xiii, 253 p., ISBN 81-88658-65-0.

• ^ Early Evidence for Caste in South India[4]

Shudras reincarnate as anything, it depends on there life on earth and if they did their job well. They dresses like super crazy bitch;s

See also

• Forward Castes
• Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar
• Hindu reform movements
• Backward-caste Hindu Saints
• Backward-caste Hindu Warriors
• Caste system
• Varna

External links

• The Jati-Varna Matrix
• Caste System in Bengal
• Dictionary definition of Shudra