Guest guest Posted January 11, 2000 Report Share Posted January 11, 2000 Kailash Srivastava wrote: Under which varna does "Kayastha" fall? Here are some excerpts from His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's English Language translaton of Sri Caitanya Cariamrta. Your question is answered. Madhya 7.63 The Lord' s Tour of South India In the varnasrama-dharma, the sudra is the fourth division in the social status. Paricaryatmakam karma sudrasyapi svabhava-jam (Bg. 18.44). Sudras are meant to engage in the service of the three higher classes--brahmanas, ksatriyas and vaisyas. Sri Ramananda Raya belonged to the karana class, which is the equivalent of the kayastha class in Bengal. This class is regarded all over India as sudra. It is said that the Bengali kayasthas were originally engaged as servants of brahmanas who came from North India to Bengal. Later, the clerical class became the kayasthas in Bengal. Now there are many mixed classes known as kayastha. Sometimes it is said in Bengal that those who cannot claim any particular class belong to the kayastha class. Although these kayasthas or karanas are considered sudras, they are very intelligent and highly educated. Most of them are professionals such as lawyers or politicians. Thus in Bengal the kayasthas are sometimes considered ksatriyas. In Orissa, however, the kayastha class, which includes the karanas, is considered in the sudra category. Srila Ramananda Raya belonged to this karana class; therefore he was considered a sudra. He was also the governor of South India under the regime of Maharaja Prataparudra of Orissa. In other words, Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya informed Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu that Ramananda Raya, although belonging to the sudra class, was a highly responsible government officer. As far as spiritual advancement is concerned, materialists, politicians and sudras are generally disqualified. Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya therefore requested that Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu not neglect Ramananda Raya, who was highly advanced spiritually although he was born a sudra and a materialist. Adi 7.45 Lord Caitanya in Five Features Lord Caitanya stayed at the house of Candrasekhara, a clerk, although a sannyasi is not supposed to reside in a sudra's house. Five hundred years ago, especially in Bengal, it was the system that persons who were born in the families of brahmanas were accepted as brahmanas, and all those who took birth in other families--even the higher castes, namely, the ksatriyas and vaisyas--were considered sudra non-brahmanas. Therefore although Sri Candrasekhara was a clerk from a kayastha family in upper India, he was considered a sudra. Similarly, vaisyas, especially those of the suvarna-vanik community, were accepted as sudras in Bengal, and even the vaidyas, who were generally physicians, were also considered sudras. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, however, did not accept this artificial principle, which was introduced in society by self-interested men, and later the kayasthas, vaidyas and vaniks all began to accept the sacred thread, despite objections from the so-called brahmanas. Madhya 19.16 Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Instructs Srila Rupa Gosvami Sanatana Gosvami was the minister in charge of the government secretariat, and his assistants--the undersecretaries and clerks--all belonged to the kayastha community. Formerly the kayasthas belonged to the clerical and secretarial staff of the government, and later if one served in such a post, he was called a kayastha. Eventually if a person could not identify himself as a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya or sudra, he used to introduce himself as a kayastha to get a wealthy and honorable position. In Bengal it is said that if one cannot give the identity of his caste, he calls himself a kayastha. On the whole, the kayastha community is a mixture of all castes, and it especially includes those engaged in clerical or secretarial work. Materially such people are always busy occupying responsible government posts. Antya 6.23 The Meeting of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Raghunatha dasa Gosvami Raghunatha dasa belonged to a very aristocratic family of the kayastha community. He had substantial influence with the local people, and therefore the caudhuri, or minister, was afraid to beat him. Superficially he would chastise Raghunatha dasa with threatening vibrations, but he did not beat him. The members of the kayastha community in India are generally very intelligent and expert in business management. Formerly they were mostly government officers. They were mentioned even by Yajnavalkya, as quoted by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura in his Amrta-pravaha-bhasya: cata-taskara-durvrttair maha-sahasikadibhih pidyamana praja rakset kayasthais ca visestah >From this verse it appears that the governmental officials of the kayastha community would sometimes chastise the citizens, and thus it was the duty of the king to protect the people in general from the atrocities of the kayasthas. In Bengal the kayastha community is honored almost as much as the brahmana community, but in the up-country of India the kayasthas are considered sudras because they generally eat meat and drink wine. In any case, from history the kayasthas appear very intelligent. Thus the Mohammedan caudhuri was afraid of Raghunatha dasa because he belonged to the kayastha community. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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