![]() Under the system of Chaturvarnya, the Shudra is not only placed at the bottom of the gradation but he is subjected to innumerable ignominies and disabilities so as to prevent him from rising above the condition fixed for him by law. ![]() Again, the system of graded inequality is not merely notional. Besides dividing society into four orders, the theory goes further and makes the principle of graded inequality the basis for determining the terms of associated life as between the four Varnas. Unfortunately, more than this is involved in the theory of Chaturvarnya. ![]() Chaturvarnya would have been a very innocent principle if it meant no more than mere division of society into four classes. The general proposition that the social organization of the Indo-Aryans was based on the theory of Chaturvarnya and that Chaturvarnya means division of society into four classes- Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (soldiers), Vaishyas (traders) and Shudras (menials) does not convey any idea of the real nature of the problem of the Shudras nor of its magnitude. Nor can it be said to deal with a trivial problem. In the present stage of the literature on the subject, a book on the Shudras cannot be regarded as a superfluity. ![]() The Brahmanic Theory of the Status of the Shudras ![]() The Brahmanic Theory of the Origin of the Shudras ![]()
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