namaste forum members.
"Varna" is spoken of as "Arya Varna" in RgVeda, and the all important Vedic ancestor, Manu, attributed with the creation of Varna, is also spoken of in glowing terms in the Veda. Yet, the hereditary basis of Varna is no where mentioned, except of course in the "purusha sukta" in the last chapter of the Veda, where, though, the use of a relatively new style and words clearly suggest the hymn to be of a very late origin; fittingly, this sukta will not be discussed here (roughly as a rule, the chapter 10 should be quoted in support or against an argument only under rare circumstances).
So exactly how is Manu seen in the Veda? He is a Vedic Hero, a leader, a pathfinder, and a great guide of the Aryans. He is not a Rsi, though. He is something even "higher". So which class is that?
The class is "Rbhu"; indeed, the Rbhus are directly associated with Manu and told to be his "descendants". Also, the Rbhus were composed of a variety of people, and they occupied very key responsibilities in the society: these facts are also clearly mentioned in the Veda.
According to Veda, Rbhus attained their greatness by bringing the initiatives of Manu (and also a certain "Sudhanvan", another great ancestor) to perfection. So clearly, the establishment of Varna is being talked about. It is further proved by Vedic statements such as "the Rbhus made into Four what was initially only One"; by Four the four Varnas being implied.
It should also be clarified here that "Manusmriti", meaning literally "in the memory of Manu", is a very recent text, and certainly not written by Manu himself as Manu is mentioned as a very "ancient" ancestor even in the RgVedic body of text. But it is also clear that but for Manusmriti, may be, we would have had no clear clue about who Manu was.
"Varna" has root √vṛ which may mean "to cover" or "to embrace". So Varna is like embracing the Aryan way of life. The way of life, that is, the way of works. So what has the Rsis got to say about "the way of works" or "the way of life"?
(Caution: now we have come to the spiritual aspects of the argument, so the reader is advised not to read the following too literally. I have, however, in my earlier HDF posts, not many as they are, tried to bring some alignment to these ideas.)
The field of the RgVeda is no doubt Realisation and Knowledge. It is also about Evolution, that flows from an enlightened state, called Sat. And the realm of Rbhus is that of implementation, of works, for they "achieved immortality through works".
The model for Sat in RgVeda, as given to us, is DyavaPrithvi. Here, Prithvi is the Triple Earth (we live in one of these), and Dyo is the triple Heaven. So DyavaPrithvi means Heaven Earth united, or Heaven-Earth created. I will not be fully going into the significance of DyavaPrithvi, for that is simply not possible, though I have mentioned it a few times in my posts, most significantly, in this one where I linked the unison of DyavaPrithvi notes to the "Awakening of Kundalini" in Yoga and Tantra. However, I must emphasise here that though Tantra and Yoga (as well as Vedanta etc) can validly proclaim their ancestry in the Veda, the Veda is much much more than the algebraic sum of all these sects. Into DyavaPrithvi, I guess, this much for now.
A mental map for DyavaPrithvi, that is useful, is the number system: where the positive numbers, say, belong to Prithvi and the negative numbers to Dyo. The Zero is to be seen here as Asvini Kumar (why the guy always come back to A.K.?). Again, a caution, not to be too literal here: map can come from something real, but that doesn't make the map one and same as reality.
So as Zero belongs to both negative and positive numbers, Asvini Kumar, too, belongs to both Dyava and Prithvi, and is, moreover, the Deity who makes it possible, makes Sat possible.
To summarise it, the main goal of RgVeda is DyavaPrithvi. A being whose consciousness is limited to Prithvi is called Dasyu, similarly, someone limited in Dyo is called Vrtra (don't ask me his address); both Dasyu and Vrtra being states of Asat.
The import is, our natural state is that of Dasyu, we are born into it. That is why even Rgvedic heroes have Dasyu suggestion in their names: Divodas, Trsadasyu, etc: kind of acknowledgement of their "Dasyu origins". And that is why the Veda says, "we are (overwhelmingly) surrounded with Dasyus".
On the other hand DyavaPrithvi was the model which could lead humanity to unforeseen heights and to its true potential, on and as a whole, not in terms of a few individuals here and there. In other words, Varna was meant to make the Individual and the Society -both- realise their greater potential.
The dual Gods extolled in Veda: Indra-Vayu, Mitra-Varuna, Indra-Varuna: emphasise DyavaPrithvi in the sense that in the duandva one God belongs to Dyo and the other to Prithvi. Now, here again I find myself in a tough spot. There is an anti-Gods trend nowadays, it is difficult explaining a truly polytheistic stand to someone. "What are Gods?", "Are they real?": well, Gods are in the "are", and it is the Gods that really make real "real": beyond this I am truly at a loss of words.
I am really tired now. Hope to continue soon. In the meanwhile I will appreciate your thoughts on this. I will also like if some old-timers who have talked about Veda on this forum in the past, come out, if they are reading this, and share their thoughts. Please feel free to throw in your colors!
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