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200 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Except in one place the Mahabharata gives no support to the RigVedic origin of the Varna System.
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Let us inquire what the Puranas have to say on the origin of the Varna System.
To begin with the Vishnu Purana. There are three theories propounded in the Vishnu Purana on the origin of the Chaturvarna.
According to one the origin is to be ascribed to Manu. Says the Vishnu Purana [1] :
“Before the mundane egg existed the divine Brahma Hiranyagarbha, the eternal originator of all worlds, who was the form of essence of Brahma, who consists of the divine Vishnu, who again is identical with Rik, Yajush, Saman and Atharva Vedas. From Brahma’s right thumb was born the Prajapati Daksha; Daksha had a daughter Aditi; from her was born Vivasvat; and from him sprang Manu. Manu had sons called Ikshvaku, Nriga, Dhrishta, Saryati, Narishanta, Pramsu, Nabhagandishta, Karusha and Prishadhra. From Karusha the Karushas, Kshattriyas of great power, were descended. Nabhaga, the son of Nedishta, became a Vaisya.”
This explanation is incomplete. It only explains the origin of Kshatriyas and Vaishyas. It does not explain the origin of Brahmanas and Sudras. There is also another and a different version in the Vishnu Purana. It says:
“Desirous of a son, Manu sacrificed to Mitra and Varuna; but in consequence of a wrong invocation through an irregularity of the hotri (priest) a daughter called Illa was born. Then through the favour of Mitra and Varuna she bore to Manu a son called Sudyumna. But being again changed into a female through the wrath of Isvara (Mahadeva) she wandered near the hermitage of Budha the son of Soma (the Moon); who becoming enamoured of her had by her a son called Pururavas. After his birth, the God who is formed of sacrifice of the Rik, Yajush, Saman, and Atharva Vedas, of all things, of mind, of nothing, he who is in the form of the sacrificial Male, was worshipped by the rishis of infinite splendour who desired that Sudyumna should recover his manhood. Through the fervour of this God Ila became again Sudhumna.”
“According to the Vishnu Purana, Atri was the son of Brahma, and the father of Soma (the Moon), whom Brahma installed as the
1 Muir I pp. 220-221.