HISTORY

DHARMA AND VARNASRAMA DHARMA IN

ANCIENT INDIA.

SUBMITTED BY:SHIVAM MISHRA

B.A. LLB
ROLL NO:- 151
PRN: - 16010323151
IN
AUGUST 2016

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

P. Jaya Raju

SYMBIOSIS LAW SCHOOL, HYDERABAD

SYMBIOSIS INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY, PUNE

INTRODUCTION
Varnashrama Dharma is a Sanskrit name given to the divisional
structure of the Indian society. When this order of society is intertwined
with the four orders of life or the ashramas, i.e. Brahmacharya or the
student life, Grihastha or the householders life, Vanaprastha or the
retired life and Sanyasa or the devotional life, it gives rise to the
Varnashrama dharma. This project has been taken up to explore such
various possible interpretations for the emergence of Varnashrama
Dharma. This paper will also delve into the deeper questions of the
origin of this dharma in the Indian subcontinent.
Human society is inherently divided into four orders. The first order is
the intelligent class, second is the martial class, third is the productive
class and the fourth is the labour class. The emergence of these
divisions has been touched upon by many scholars and different
reasoning have been put up for the same. This project has been taken
up to explore such various possible interpretations for the emergence of
Varnashrama Dharma.
Varnashrama Dharma is a Sanskrit name given to the divisional
structure of the Indian society. When this order of society is intertwined
with the four orders of life or the ashramas, i.e. Brahmacharya or the
student life, Grihastha or the householders life, Vanaprastha or the
retired life and Sanyasa or the devotional life, it gives rise to the
Varnashrama dharma. It can also be put as the presence of varna in
different ashramas of life.
This term paper will delve into the deeper questions of the origin of this
dharma in the Indian subcontinent. The description of the emergence of
this dharma supported by texts from ancient epics will support the
theory of origin. Subsequently different interpretations or theories of
emergence would be deliberated upon. Often Varnashrama dharma is
also thought to be synonymous with the caste system which is very
much endemic in India.
Asrama or ashrama literally means a hermitage, a shelter, hut or a
dwelling place for the ascetics. It also means a refuge or a resting
ground. In the vedic tradition asrama means a stage in the life of a
human being. Hindu tradition recognizes four stages or asramas in
human life, namely brahmacarya , grihasta, vanaprastha and sanysa. Of

these people had the option to enter into all the four or the first three.
Not all people entered into the fourth stage and among those who
entered into it, a few resorted to it directly from the stage of
brahmcarya.

THE PRESENT PICTURE OF THE

VARNASHRAMA DHARMA
With the passage of time, Varnashrama got rigidly compartmentalised
and rituals and traditions started to be followed very strictly. With the
coming of the Muslim empire, the Hindus got aware of their identity and
the constant identity tussle made them exhibit their religion as
superior to that of the others. Mingling with other factors, this led to the
transformation of the Varnashrama dharma to a compulsory form of
segregation that accepted the form of caste system in India.Lord Metson
quoted in The Untouchables of India that caste moderates personal
ambition and checks the bitterness of competition. It gives a man,
whatever his station in life, a society in which he can be at home even
when he is among strangers. For the poor man, it serves as a club, as a
trade union and a mutual benevolent society, all rolled into one. It
ensures continuing and a certain inherited skill in the arts and crafts.
And in the moral sphere it means that every man lives in content with
that place which destiny has allotted him, and uncomparingly does his
best. But practically none of the plight of those who were the victim of
the system was beyond addressable. But with the coming of the
European and the spread of English culture in some parts of India, the
Indian scholars who took up to rational thinking found the system too
suffocating to live in
With the advent of twentieth century and the coming of many modern
means of communication, the hiatus between different caste and
religious groups got plugged in. Some famous reformers introduced
various societies to cover up the social evil of untouchability. The
Brahmo Samaj founded by Raja Ram Mohun Roy was one of the societies
that aimed at removed social evils like sati, untouchability, etc. He was a
great social thinker to suggest inter-caste marriage as the only remedy
for breaking down barriers of caste system. The leading social reformer

Mahadev Govind Ranade founded the Prarthna Samaj under the

inspiration of Keshab Chandra Sen. It also aimed at forming a
heterogeneous society where no social impediments would exist
nurturing a healthy environment for budding India. The Arya Samaj
which was inspired by the Brahmo Samaj was founded by Dayanand
Saraswati, made Veda as the centre of purifying all the evils gulping the
rational behaviour of human beings at that time. The efforts of
Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Swami Vivekanand could not be left
behind while counting the number of steps that we have moved ahead
of the unfortunate days. The Theosophical society founded by Madame
H.P. Blavatsky and Colonel H.S. Olcott has also contributed its part. The
contribution of all these enlightened men has brought us to a phase
which is vastly different from the landscape of ancient India. The evil of
casteism is not totally obliterated from the social picture but the
condition has substantially improved giving rise to a harmonious
heterogeneous existence.

CONCLUSION
Tracing the path of origination of the varna system, this project
acquaints us to the Brahmanical and the western theory of
interpretation of the emergence of the varna system. Taking in excerpts
from the Geeta and emphasising on the words of Manu, it can be
concluded that the varna system has reshaped itself over time. Four
major varnas were formed due to societal segregation for various
reasons but it has eventually taken a rigid form. The contribution from
various scholars in transformation of this system has led to a different
picture that exists in todays time. The division of society has existed in
all times and will keep on existing in some other form if not in this form.
Therefore, one has only to change the aspiration during the course of
this present body, and for this there is need of training in the current
duration of human life. This training can be begun at any stage of life, or
even a few seconds before death, but the usual procedure is for one to
get the training from very early life, from the stage of brahmacarya, and
gradually progress to the ghastha, vnaprastha and sannysa orders of
life. The institution which gives such training is called varramadharma, or the system of santana-dharma, the best procedure for
making the human life perfect.

based on above information on varna and ashrama jointly,

Varnashrama dharma reflects different sets of duties corresponding to
four stages in life and four occupations in society.