Varna

Varna

Brahmans or Brahmins - the intellectuals and the priestly class who perform religious rituals

Kshatriya (nobles or warriors) - who traditionally had power

Vaishyas (commoners or merchants) - ordinary people who produce, farm, trade and earn a living

Shudras (workers) - who traditionally served the higher classes, including labourers, artists, musicians, and clerks

People in the top three classes are known as 'twice born' because they have been born from the womb and secondly through initiation in which boys receive a sacred thread as a symbol of their high status. Although usually considered an initiation for males it must be noted that there are examples of exceptions to this rule, where females receive this initiation.

The twice born traditionally could go through four stages of life or ashramas. The ashrama system is as follows:

1. Brahmacarya - 'celibate student' stage in which males learned the Veda
2. grihastha - 'householder' in which the twice born male can experience the human purposes (purushartha) of responsibility, wealth, and sexual pleasure
3. Vanaprastha - 'hermit' or 'wilderness dweller' in which the twice born male retires from life in the world to take up pilgrimage and religious observances along with his wife
4. Samnyasa - 'renunciation' in which the twice born gives up the world, takes on a saffron robe or, in some sects, goes naked, with a bowl and a staff to seek moksha (liberation) or develop devotion