manusmriti

LAWS OF MANU
“As the Aryans who came to India were small in number when compared to the native
Dravidians etc., they could not lead an isolated life; there has been much admixture of
blood from the beginning. At the same time, the Aryans did not want to lose the
advantage of their fair skin (bright colour) by completely merging with the black, brown
and yellow native inhabitants. Thus they evolved the social structure of Chatur Varna.
Those natives who accepted the servile status were made sudras, and those who
resisted were forced to be Avarnas, chandalas, or untouchables. They were made to
live outside the villages and towns under inhuman conditions. In course of time, as the
society became complicated and Vedic influence expanded, the four-fold Varna
division gave rise to more than four thousand Jatis, with a graded system of
inequality.” Class Caste Relations – Marxist Approach: Ananta Acharya
This complicity of the caste became the cause for the emergence of two new religions
namely Buddhism and Jainism. The Buddhist and Jain texts openly challenge the
Caste System and the Supremacy of Brahmanas. “Secondly, the rise of Buddhism
and Jainism and other heterodox religious sects was a great challenge to the old
Vedic faith and practices and, as a result, there underwent an almost complete
transformation in the society. As a result, the picture of the caste system underwent a
radical change.”18 Lacs of so-called Sudras converted to Buddhism and earned a
respectful and dignified living in the society. The patronship of the Mauryan Empire
was a boon for the development of the Buddhism. Buddhist and Jain did not believe
in Hindu Gods. There was no space for caste system. After the end of the Mauryan
Empire in around 1 st Century BC many other invaders like Alexander (2 nd Century
BC), Kushans (1 st BC- 3 rd A.D.), Guptas (3 rd A.D. to 6 th A.D), Harsharvardhana (6 AD
to 9 th AD) and Cholas (9 th AD to 10 th AD) came to India and established their rules and
Buddhism faced many ups and downs during their rules but the popularity of the
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