The Dhaarmik Traditions - Indic Studies Foundation

ased on aptitudes. In short, the system was a synonym for a meritocracy 4 . That the
system was eminently successful in its own way , I have no doubt because the
resulting civilization flourished for well over 5 millennia, until its very foundations
were attacked by barbarians from both within and without ,barbarians, whose notion of
entertainment was to build a pyramid of skulls, in order to terrorize the local
population to capitulate. The current system in place after the colonial power was done
reinventing and reshaping it to its own specifications, and which goes by the name
Caste, is so utterly different in all significant ways, that we can safely say it has little to
do with the Hindu faith or Hindu traditions such as the Guna Varna Vyavastha. The
Vedic division of people into 4 Varnas (Brahmana, Rajanya, Vaisya and Shudra) is by
Guna and Guna only and is known as the Guna Varna Vyavastha. The Asrama system
refers to the four stages of one's life, namely Brahmacharya (life of an unmarried
student), Grihasthya (life of a householder), Vanaprasthaya (life of a retired
householder), sannyasa (life of a monk) is based in the physical, mental and emotional
changes that take place in a person as he/she ages and matures.
What are the GuNAs
There are 3 GuNAs as we have explained elsewhere (see Glossary), Sattva, Rajas
and Tamas and these three GuNAs occur in each and every individual in varying
degrees. The relative proportion of each in the total determines the essential nature
of the individual. It follows that at any given time an individual, may exhibit different
modes of behavior as his personality matures and develops. The son of a Brahmana
may choose not to follow the priestly vocation and may elect to go into law. As a
4 See Wiki, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meritocracy
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