4

I have two questions on this:

  1. How can one find out his/her varna? For example, my caste is Kasar - what varna do I belong to?
  2. Is there actually any strong link between caste and varna at birth i.e. a Brahmin will stay Brahmin even if he changes his profession considering modern era?

1 Answers1

2

How to find your varna from your caste?

Currently, there are two methods, the neo-Vedantin/neo-Hindu way, and the orthodox Hindu way, propounded by orthodox Vedic followers.

  1. Neo-Hindu way

The neo-Hindu way is based on autonomous self-identification; i.e. you pick your varna.

  1. The orthodox way

The orthodox Hindu way is based on ancestry, as I show in this answer.

The neo-Vedanta way is more or less a modern invention to suit Western beliefs of "all men are created equal" that British-educated, modern Indians have adopted, whereas the orthodox way is the correct way as per scriptures and all orthodox followers of Hinduism.

Ikshvaku
  • 22,130
  • 2
  • 39
  • 116
  • 1
    @ram Ok I removed – Ikshvaku Feb 28 '20 at 22:51
  • @Ikshvaku What would be my varna by the orthodox way considering my caste is Kasar who used to be artisans dealing with making and selling bangles (out of brass, I guess). Some of them identify to be Brahmins, some Kshatriya and some like my parents don't know as they have long ago left that professions (caste-related). –  Feb 29 '20 at 03:25
  • @Ikshvaku Also you do realize that Brahmins are forbidden to many things including drinking (which fairly many of my 'Brahmin-caste' friends do). So technically they are Brahmin by birth but have fallen out of the Brahmin varna, right? –  Feb 29 '20 at 03:32
  • 1
    @John Do you remember your gotra? And yes, Brahmanas who drink, etc are fallen brahmins; brahmabandhus. – Ikshvaku Feb 29 '20 at 03:34
  • @Ikshvaku I don't wear sacred thread but my mother said that we descend from Kashyap gotra. –  Feb 29 '20 at 03:35
  • @Ikshvaku Also I am not Brahmin AFAIK, but from the other three varnas. –  Feb 29 '20 at 03:46
  • 2
    @JohnRay, kashyap prajapati is the progenitor of all creatures including animals, birds, snakes.. so if someone doesn't know their gotra, they can say kashyap gotra and it most likely wouldn't be wrong - this is the reasoning i heard in pravachan – ram Feb 29 '20 at 03:59
  • @ram Yeah, I get that. What do you think of this question though? –  Feb 29 '20 at 04:03
  • @JohnRay We can't say for certain, but based on your ancestral profession, you are either pratiloma mixed caste or shudra. – Ikshvaku Feb 29 '20 at 04:05
  • @Ikshvaku Yes, probably shudra. –  Feb 29 '20 at 04:09
  • 2
    @Ikshvaku, i think brahmabandhus are those who don't follow their occupation, yet help brahmin community, i don't think it includes fallen outcastes (until they perform expiation) – ram Feb 29 '20 at 04:23
  • @Ikshvaku- kindly also explain who are the fallen Shudra, fallen Vaishya and fallen Kshatriya..? – 9bilvapatra Oct 15 '20 at 22:48