Purushasukta

Its relationship to the caste system

Arvind Sharma, Journal of the Economic and Social History
of the Orient, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Oct., 1978),pp. 294-303

Context

Rig Veda has ten books or Mandalas.

Each Mandala has Suktas or Hymns.
Tradition associates a Rishi with each Sukta.
Mandala 10 is considered the latest in Rig Veda:
Comprises 191 hymns
Addressed to Agni, Indra, Varuna and various
other devas
Nadistuti sukta is in praise of rivers
Purusha sukta is the 90th sukta, very significant
to Hindus
Nasadiya sukta is the 129th sukta, probably the
most celebrated hymn in the west, which deals
with creation.
1st Anuvaka of Purushasukta has 18 verses. They

Purushasukta X.90
Verses 9-15 describe the evolution of the Universe from Purusha thus
giving a description of the spiritual unity of the universe.
Purusha Sukta presents the nature of Purusha or the cosmic being as both
immanent in the manifested world and yet transcendent to it.
Manifestation of the Universe is described to have started with the
origination of Virat or the cosmic body (Prakriti) from the Purusha. In Virat,
omnipresent intelligence manifests itself which causes the appearance of
diversity.
In these verses, it is held that Purusha through a sacrifice of himself
brings forth birds, forest-dwelling and domestic animals, the Vedas, and
the meters of the mantras.
His mouth became the Brahmana, arms became the Rajanya, and thighs
became the Vaisya, and from his feet were born the Sudra.
From the Purusha came all deities - the moon from the Purusha's mind,
the sun from his eyes, Indra and Agni from his mouth and air from his vital
breath. The space unfolds from his navel, the heavenly bodies from his
head, the earth from his feet, and the spatial expanse from his ears.

Purushasukta X.90
Verse 16 acknowledges the knowledge of this
Purusha and praises His glory:
I know Him, who is glorious and valorous, who
materializes all names and forms, maintains all
manifestations, is bright as the Sun, and beyond
all darkness.

As we go through the analysis, let us keep the

respect that this magnificent Sukta deserves.
Now, we will look at the argument.

Purushasukta: 10.90.12
In Purushasukta, reference is made to four
orders of society as emanating from the
sacrifice of Purusha (The Cosmic Being).
The names of those orders are given there as:
Brahmana, Rajanya, Vaisya, and Sudra, who
are said to have come respectively from the
mouth, the arms, the thighs, and the feet of the
Purusha.
Reference: Rig Veda, X.90.12 Mandala 10,
Sukta 90, Verse 12. Rishi or Seer is: Narayana

Contentious Argument
Contentious Argument: On the basis of this reference to
the four orders of society in the Purushasukta, it has been
argued that:
The fact that the four classes are described as of divine
origin must be taken as sufficient indication that the four
classes were well-defined and have existed from a very long
time.
The exact demarcation of their functions, the regulations
regarding their inter-relations and the extent of their
flexibility may not be referred to in the main body of Rig
Vedic literature which is of a liturgical nature.
By placing the Sudras at the feet, Purushasukta shows the
low status of Sudras.
Contentious Position: Thus, the formulation of castes, if not
the caste system (as a social structure), was already a mature
development in the age of the Rig Veda.

Examining the Contentious

Argument
The Purushasukta, the notion of
caste, and their relationship needs to
be carefully examined.

Examining Purushasukta 10.90.12

1. In the entire Rig Veda, it is only in the Purushasukta that
the concept of four orders is mentioned.
2. The words Rajanya and Sudra are mentioned for the
first and only time in the Purushasukta. Outside
Purushasukta, there are no mentions of these words in
Rig Veda.
3. The word Vaisya is also only found in Purushasukta and
nowhere else in the Rig Veda.
4. Purushasukta refers to the Brahmana, the Rajanya, and
the Vaisya not as sprung from, but as the
transformation of the mouth, the arms and the thighs
of the Purusha. Purushasukta refers only to Sudra as
having born from Purushas feet.
5. Purushasukta is only one of several cosmogonic
(theory pertaining to origin of cosmos) hymns found in
the tenth Mandala of Rig Veda (eg: X.82, X.121, X.129
etc.,). None of the others mention the four orders.

Examining Purushasukta 10.90.12 (contd)

6. The word Varna does not appear in the Purushasukta at
all. In fact, it is interesting to note that there is no name
given or mentioned for the four orders anywhere in the Rig
Veda.
7. The word Varna appears in Rig Veda but not in the context
of the four orders. The four orders Brahmana, Rajanya,
Vaisya, and Sudra appear in Rig Veda as well. But the word
Varna is never applied to the words Brahmana, Rajanya,
Vaisya, and Sudra.
8. In the early Mandalas of Rig Veda, there is a division of
society into three orders, viz., Brahmana, Kshatriya and
Vish. The first two represented broadly the two professions
of the poet-priest and the warrior-chief. The third division
was a group comprising all the common people. It is only
in one of the later hymns of Purushasukta that a reference
has been made to four orders of society or to the word
Sudra. (M. N. Srinivas, Caste in Modern India and Other
Essays, p 64).

Examining the word Caste

The term caste originates from the
Portuguese word Casta
Caste has been loosely applied to
cover the terms Jati as well as Varna
which are distinguished in the Hindu
tradition.
In order to understand the relationship
of caste system to Purushasukta,
relationship of the word caste needs to
be understood in relation to both Jati
and Varna.

Examining the Word Jati

There are two accounts of the word Jati: the traditional
Indian and the modern Western.
Traditional account of the Smritis (eg: Manusmriti, Chapter
IX) portrays the Jatis of India as having evolved from the
four Varnas by a process of intermarriage and subdivision.
Modern Western scholarship is not quite certain how Jati
arose but they discount the traditional view. (See P.V.
Kane, History of Dharmasastra Vol. V (Part II), p 1633).
Jati has undergone various phases of development so that
Indologists will eventually have to readjust their view of
Indian society to explain the changes and the
development. (See M. N. Srinivas, Caste in Modern India
and Other Essays, p 140).

Examining the Word Varna

Rig Veda is considered the first liturgical text from
the earliest Aryan society in India. The theory is
that Aryans brought the hierarchy of caste
system to India.
Many regard Purushasukta as the earliest
exposition of the later Brahminical view of Varna
and use that as the starting point of scriptural
definition of Varna system leading to Caste system.
Relating Caste system with Rig Veda via Varna is
problematic and can be examined in three
different ways: hermeneutical, historical, and
mythical.

Hermeneutical View of relationship

between Caste System and Varna
Assuming that the order referred to in Purushasukta is
indeed Varna:
Interpretation of Purushasukta leads to two possible
interpretations of Varna: one hierarchical, and two
organic.
Interpretation of Purushasukta leads to two possible
interpretations of Varna : one karma, and two janma.
Two questions arise:
1. Which of these two interpretations of the varna,
hierarchical or organic, underlie the Purushasukta?
2. On what is Varna based karma or janma in the
Purushasukta?

Hermeneutical View
Hierarchical Interpretation
Hierarchical interpretation involves the
interpretation that the head is the most
excellent limb (Uttamanga) (Vaman Shivram
Apte, The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary,
Motilal Benarsidass, 1965, p 260) and that the
arms, thighs, and feet are progressively less
so in that order.
Thus the Brahmana (called Vaktraja, in Taittriya
Samhita), is superior to all the other Varnas and
surely to the Sudra, who is called Padaja (having
sprung from feet, as in Purushasukta).
This interpretation is the favored one in Smriti
literature.

Hermeneutical View
Organic Interpretation

The organic interpretation is the modern interpretation

and may be called neo-Hindu. This interpretation regards
the various classes as forming part of one body-politic, just
as the limbs are parts of the body.
The emphasis now shifts from the fact that some limbs may
be regarded as superior to others and rests on the fact that
all limbs are parts of the body and that each has an
important role to play , is important in its own way, and
cannot be replaced by the duplicate of another.
The important point now is not that the four Varnas
were created mukhabahurupadatah (Manusmriti I.31) but
that they must function as parts of one body
mukhabahurupadavat. The head cannot claim superiority
over the feet simply because it trails in the air while the
latter treads in the dust: the feet are essential to the body
as the head. It is the principle of integration and coordination that weighed with the builders of caste. (T.M.P.

Hermeneutical View
Varna is by karma or janma?

Purushasukta speaks not of creation of the orders but

transformation of Purusha into them by an act of ritual
sacrifice, one of the words for which is karma. Thus, it is
meaningful to infer that the four classes are a karmic
transformation of the Purusha than to genetically locate
them in Him, as later traditions seem to have done.
The significance of this aspect of the situation is highlighted
when the Purushasukta is compared with Bhagavad-Gita
4.13 wherein Krishna clearly states: caturvarnyam maya
srstam! There is a clear statement to the effect that the
fourfold order was created by Me. As against this,
Purushasukta speaks of the emergence of the three orders
from various parts of the Purusha by transformation than
a creation.
What is more, in the Bhagavad-Gita, where the creation of
Varnas is indeed spoken of, the Varnas are nowhere
associated with birth. Sankara quotes from Purushasukta in

Historical View of relationship

between Caste System and Varna
There is clearly a lack of any effort to define the caste system in
the Rig Veda. Given that Rig Veda is an early composition of the
Aryan presence in India (assuming that Aryans did arrive in India
from elsewhere as supposed by some theories), it is possible that
the post Aryan society is still in a fluid and formative state in the
Rig Vedic Period, when a Rig Vedic seer sings, A bar am I, my
father a leech, and my mother a grinder of corn, then the organic
and egalitarian rather than the hierarchical interpretation would
seem to accord better with facts.
On the whole it is difficult not to agree with the views
propounded long ago by Muir that the Brahmanas (far less the
Kshatriyas or Vaisyas) did not constitute an exclusive caste or race
The heredity of occupation was, therefore, not yet a recognized
principle, far less an established fact. (R.C. Majumdar, The Vedic
Age, Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1965, p. 391).

Historical View of relationship

between Caste System and Varna
Hierarchical interpretation can only make sense if
one can support the argument that the caste system
had already crystallized (as some claim without
supporting arguments).
It seems certain that in the Rig Veda that Brahmana
or Brahmin is already a separate caste, differing from
warrior and agricultural castes. (A. A. MacDonnell and
A. B. Keith, Vedic Index of Names and Subjects, Vol. II,
London: John Murray, 1912, p .81).
No definite answer to the question seems possible.
However, considering that (1) the name Varna is not
applied to the four orders in Purushasukta, (2) when
the name Varna was used in the Rig Veda it did not
apply to the four orders, (3) interpretation in tradition
(Gita, Sankara) where Varna is related to guna and not
birth, there is really no basis to suggest that seers of

Theological View
Theologically, being a padaja is not necessarily a negative
role (Bhagavata Purana, III.6.33). The Bhagavata says, in
fact, that when the four classes were created, they were
brought forth from the feet of Bhagavan to do their service
for the fulfilment of Dharma, for which in former time was
Sudra by whose conduct Hari is pleased.
The sacred Ganges, after all, flows from the feet of Bhagavan
Vishnu.
It is the Gurus feet which the disciple touches.
What the reference can really be taken to represent is that:
Just as the feet of the Purusha are his base that supports him,
the earth is the base that supports living beings, so the
Sudras are the foundation of society that support the society.
Purushasukta indeed says that the earth came out of the feet
of Purusha.

Against the argument that Sudras

were mentioned last because they
are the least
At one place, Purushasukta says that the Purusha's mouth
became the Brahmana and at another point we read that
Indra and Agni sprang from his mouth. In the one case the
mouth is mentioned first; but in the other instance the
mouth is mentioned third, the first place being given to the
mind and the second to the eye.
According to the argument, then, the moon that springs
from the mind is perhaps superior to the sun that springs
from the item mentioned next, namely the eye. And
therefore, Indra and Agni are inferior to the Moon and the
Sun.
At the same place, it is mentioned that earth sprang from
his feet. Does that mean earth is inferior to moon?
Argument leads to all sorts of nonsensical conclusions

Position Against Contention

There is no way to establish a relationship between the
Purushasukta and the Jati aspect of the caste system.
Hermeneutically, historically, or theologically, there is no
relationship between Purushasukta and Varna.
Even for the traditional Indian view of the origin of Jati, it is only
through the association of the Purushasukta with Varna, and
association of Varna with Jati that one can associate Jati with
Purushasukta.
As for endogamy (intermarriage) and commensality (fellowship at
the dining table), they are not even remotely hinted at in the
hymns of the Rig Veda.
The characterization of the Sudras as "the servile class' is historical
rather than theological.
Thus, there is no implication of hierarchy, endogamy, or
commensality in the Purushasukta.