Samajik Vyavastha – The Social System
The most misunderstood, misinterpreted and misrepresented aspect of Bharat had been the Varna & Jathi system this has been wrongly translated into English as caste system. Which is actually wrong; as the British Caste System and Bharathiya Jaathi and Varna Vyavastha are not the same.
Varnas & Jathis
Basically Jaathi is the nomenclature give to a community of people practicing a common Vrrithi (Profession) and anybody born in that community takes on the tag of that Jaathi. Eg. Kumbar is the Jaathi and by Vrrithi (Profession) they are Potters, hence anybody born in this community will be called Kumbar.
The most misunderstood, misinterpreted and misrepresented aspect of Bharat had been the Varna & Jathi system this has been wrongly translated into English as caste system. Which is actually wrong; as the British Caste System and Bharathiya Jaathi and Varna Vyavastha are not the same. This workshop will throw light on most of the aspects of Varna and Jaathi. First of all most of the people who talk badly and criticise this system themselves don’t know the difference between Varna and Jaathi. Let me put these things about these systems in few lines though it is very difficult to tell about them in a few lines.
Varna: The literal translation of Varna is actually Colour. Varna is a broad classification of the society by taking into consideration people’s Guna (Innate Nature or Mental Attitudes) and Karma (How they profess life). There are classically four Varnas and nowhere in any literature there is any mention of any one of them being superior to the other. These four Varnas are Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. But like anything in Bharat this system is not linear, when we search various texts and scriptures we understand that this is not a linier concept but it is actually a Matrix.
Jaathi: Basically Jaathi is the nomenclature give to a community of people practicing a common Vrrithi (Profession) and anybody born in that community takes on the tag of that Jaathi. Eg. Kumbar is the Jaathi and by Vrrithi (Profession) they are Potters, hence anybody born in this community will be called Kumbar. To my understanding, in my travels and interactions I have listed close to 75 Jaathis which were practicing specialised professions. Other than these I have listed and documented 35 Bhiksha Vrrithi Jaathis. I have also heard from various sources that there are close to 350 Jaathis in Bharat.
But the above are only indicators of the whole subject there is much more than the above which will be discussed in the workshop. This workshop requires about 6 hours, it can be conducted on either one day or spread over two days.
Vrrithis the various professions
Depending on their “Position of power” the vrrithis were seven they wereKarma Vrrithi (Technological Profession), Rashtratantra Vrrithi (Administrative Proffession), Vaishya Vrrithi (Trading and Commerce Profession), Krishi Vrrithi (Farming and Agricultural Profession) and Bhiksha Vrrithi (Dependent Profession) and “Uncha Vrrithi” (leading the life of a Mendicant or Begging for food).
There were three types of Vrrithis depending upon the type of work that the people in that vrrithi do. They are Karma Vrrithi (Artisanal work), Vysya Vrrithi (Trade and Commerce) and Bhiksha Vrrithi (Living on whatever one is offered). Then there were three types of vrriths based on how the person works viz. Adhishttana Vrrithi (Work while standing), Aaseetha Vrrithi (Work while sitting), Chara Vrrithi (Work on the move).
Further depending on their “Position of power” the Vrrithis were classified as Karma Vrrithi (Technological Profession), Rashtratantra Vrrithi (Administrative Proffession), Vaishya Vrrithi (Trading and Commerce Profession), Krishi Vrrithi (Farming and Agricultural Profession) and Bhiksha Vrrithi (Dependent Profession). There are one more profession which is actually considered as the best and the noblest of professions it was called “Uncha Vrrithi” leading the life of a Mendicant or Begging for food. This workshop is about the various careers and types of professions the existed in Bharat this takes 2-2.5 hours.
Bhiksha Vrithi the community of reverence
Bhiksha (usually misrepresented as beggary) was and is not begging. Bhiksha was given to people who have taken a Deeksha (a strong resolve for achieving something spiritual). In Bharat there were many communities which lived on Bhiksha. These people were considered as the keepers of knowledge.
The British when they came to India they told “India is a land of Ballads and Story Tellers”. They didn’t know the intricacies of this and also the Socio-Economic Cultural values associated with these forms of art. This is an attempt to bring in front of you a typical day in a village in the company of the Ballads and Story-Tellers (Bhiksha Vrithi People).
Bhiksha (usually misrepresented as beggary) was and is not begging. Bhiksha was given to people who have taken a Deeksha (a strong resolve for achieving something spiritual or for the society). There were many communities which lived on Bhiksha. These people were considered as the keepers of knowledge. They were also keeping the birth-death registers of certain communities. They also settled the legal conflicts between two parties of the same community. There are said to be set least 275 communities who were dependent on other communities for Bhiksha. How did these communities live? What was their role in the society as a whole? Vrrithi actually means profession. So did these people choose this profession of Bhiksha? This 6 hours workshop deals with these questions. Also gives an insight into the lives of these Bhiksha Vritthi communities.
Bharathiya Karigar Samaj – Artisans of Bharat
The Artisans or The Karigar Samaj was like the backbone of the Bharathiya Samaj (Indian Society). There is a basic requirement of the number of artisans required for a village to become self-sufficient. The numbers vary from 12 to 56.
The Artisans or The Karigar Samaj was like the backbone of the Bharathiya Samaj (Indian Society). There is a basic requirement of the number of artisans required for a village to become self-sufficient. The numbers vary from 12 to 56. There were 6 Vishwakarmas, 35 – 40 skilled Artisans, 25 – 30 Artisans providing some kind of service, 25 – 30 Artisans would be living out of the other communities and about 25 – 30 of them would be involved in allied activities. This conservative list that is shown here itself has about 136 Artisanal Communities.
Which are the artisanal communities that are required when the number is 12? When is it 56 what is the difference? Why these many numbers of variations are seen? What do they make for daily use and for special occasions? What are their raw materials? What are the tools they use? In this 8hrs workshop three participants get an introduction into this world of Bharathiya Karigar.
