ORIENTAL SERIES.

336 VARNA VARUNA.
VARZVA. '
Class or caste.' The Chatur-vaim, or four castes,
as found established in the code of Manu, are
1. Brahman The sacerdotal and learned class, the members
of which may be, but are not necessarily priests.
2. Kshatriya. The 'regal and warrior caste.
3. Yaisya. Trading and agricultural caste.
4. $udra. Servile caste, whose duty is to serve the other
three.
The first three castes were called dwi-ja, "twice born or
regenerate/'
from their being entitled to investiture with the sacred
thread which effects a second birth. The Brahmans maintain
that their caste alone remains, that the other three have been
lost or degraded, and it is generally believed that there are no
pure Kshatriyas or Yaisyas now existing. The numerous castes
which, have sprung up from the intercourse of people of different
*
castes or from other causes are called Varwa-sankara, mixed
castes/
YAKSHA A region. Nine varshas are enumerated as
situated between the great mountain ranges of the earth :
(i.)
Bharata-varsha, India ; (2.) Kim-purusha or Kin-nara ; (3.)
Hari; (4.) Ramyaka; (5.) Eiran-maya; (6.) TJttara-kuru ;
(7.) Havnta; (8.) Bhadraswa ; (9.) Ketu-mala,
YAESILZVEYA. A name of Krishna as a descendant of
Ynshrai. Name of King Nala's charioteer.
YABTTIKAS. Supplementary rules or notes to the grammar
of Panini by later grammarians, as Katyayana, Patanjali,
&e. Katyayana is the chief of these annotators, and is called
Varttika-kaxa, 'the annotator.'
YARILYA Similar to Ougavo'c. 'The universal encom-
passer, the all-embracer.' One of the oldest of the Yedic deities,
a personification of the all-investing sky, the maker and up-
holder of heaven and earth. As such he is king of the universe,
king of gods and men, possessor of illimitable knowledge, the
supreme deity to whom especial honour is due, He is often
associated with Mitra, he being the ruler of the night and Mitra
of the day ; but his name frequently occurs alone, that of Mitra
only seldom. In later times he was chief among the lower
celestial deities called Adityas, and later still he became a sort of
Neptune, a god of the seas and rivers, who rides upon the
Makara This character he still retains. His sign is a tislx