In 1871 British commenced the first census of India. One of the striking features of this census is how the castes are recorded. For example, in Madras state we see castes such as Priests, Warriors, Traders, Agriculturists, Shepherd and Pastoral Castes, Artisans, Writer or Accountant Castes, Weavers, Labourers, Potmakers, Mixed Castes, Fishermen, Palm cultivators, Barbers, Washermen, Others and Out caste. If we look around us, some of the common “castes” are Swarnkar (or sunar), Charmkar (or chamar), Lohar (Iron smith) etc. These were the common professions of our society then. Even the British saw caste as something primarily identified by the profession. These were the professionals of that time.

Speaking of professions, let us have a thought experiment that we want to have a successful meeting in any professional walk of life. We need a leader who keeps track of the agenda, a time keeper who ensures agenda items are addressed in a timely manner, a scribe who takes notes and publishes meeting minutes, and participants who provide input on agenda items. Depending upon the type of meeting, there can be other roles such as experts in various fields providing their expert views etc. In the similar way, larger structures such as village, town, city, metro, state, or country also need organization to efficiently and smoothly conduct its business. Simply put, we need professionals to be in specific roles to do specific tasks well.My argument is that Varna Vyavastha is at the core of a well-functioning and efficient society. Varna Vyavastha has been described in several of our scriptures including Vishnu Puran and Shrimad Bhagvat Gita without much detailed elaboration. Basic idea though is that for any society to function well, every productive member of the society must play his/her part. Society is the game of well-functioning individuals. Our ancestors defined our roles broadly as Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shoodra.

Let us look at the basic framework for the varn vyavastha:

Shoodra are thought of as workers. People who provide services to others to earn their living. In other words, the utility of manual labor is paramount. Financially they can support themselves and the immediate family. Spiritually they could be thought of as the people who think of themselves alone.

Vaishya are thought of as business people. People who organize commercial activities and potentially employ others to earn their living. In other words, they employ more worldly wisdom (vyaavharik buddhi) than the manual labor. Financially they can support immediate family, their employees and contribute to the society. Spiritually they could be thought of as the people who think of themselves and the immediate family.

Kshatriya (Hindi:) are thought of as warriors, officers or rulers. Generally, people who enforce rules, create and control order, provide safety and security.  In other words, they employ many skills including political, commercial, managerial, combat, and many other skills to perform their role. Financially and otherwise they can support their families, subordinates, cities, states, nations and can potentially contribute to the society at large. Spiritually they could be thought of as the people who think of the society, or nation in general.

Brahman are thought of as advisers, priests, and in general seekers of truth. Generally, people who focus on perfecting a stream of knowledge such as becoming experts and teachers, seeking truth, helping create equanimity and share their knowledge with everyone. In other words, they employ expert level skills in their domain. Financially, they can support themselves and their families. Spiritually they could be thought of as the people who think about the world and beyond.

In the context of a well-functioning society, roles and efficiently discharging our duties in those roles becomes important. The chaos stems from the fact that most of us are not only unaware of our own roles but also, we refuse to discharge the ones that we know about. In fact, the lack of citizenship (ie taking ownership of one’s own duties) is something we wear on our sleeves. We feel a sense of pride in doing everything against how it should be done. We neither have respect for the rule of law nor in playing the role we are assigned by the society. For example, some doctors actively cheat and over-charge the patient, some teachers avoid teaching in the classroom and charge big money to teach same students in an outside coaching center, some contractors lie and cheat their way through the project.When we discharge our duties, we do the same. Look everywhere, the scene is same. In fact, the people at the lowest rung of the society are found to be more honest in discharging their duty - partly because they are genuinely like that and partly because they do not have opportunity to be corrupt. These are not the failure of Varna Vyavastha, these are all examples of the need of strict varna vyavastha meaning a deeper understanding of our role and our responsibilities so that we perform our duties exceptionally well. A truly efficient and well-organized society depends on it.

Other very common thread we see in today’s divided and political environment is constant fighting, instigation, self-promotion, incitement without any sense of our own responsibility. We see one caste or groups fighting against the other. Koregaon, Dalit Vs non-dalits, Jat Vs Rajputs Vs Meenas. These are not the failure of Varna Vyavastha, these are also examples of the need of the strict varna vyavastha. Let us examine the probles.

So, if the varna vyavastha is good, what is the problem? There is no problem when people contribute to the society according to their skills, capability and seek to grow higher into varn vyavastha i.e. development of their skills and capability. The problem is when people want to receive the fruits of something they don’t have skills and capability for. Economics and political power are today’s only driving factors. So, everyone, regardless of their skills, want to have the highest/most lucrative job in the land that fetches them the most money by fair and unfair means. The other side of the same coin is the “caste” or “varn” being a biological right. When “varn” is based on the profession which is in turn based on capability and skills, the children of a varn such as kshatriya cannot be kshatriya just because of their birth.

What should be our modern Varna Vyavastha then? Varna vyavastha should be the fundamental method of organizing the society so that all productive members of the society have assigned roles for the efficient functioning of the society.

In a well-managed town, we need an official body elected by its people. These leaders can represent the residents of the town. The body needs permanent members or workers who provide various town services such as for parks, recreation, roads, buildings, law offices, courts, police, property management, utilities such as water, electric, gas etc, maintenance, library, schools etc. To pay for all this, the taxes need to implemented and managed. Then residents need to provide services to each other such as farming, groceries, restaurants, sports facilities, book stores, all kinds of shops, construction, various smithing services, schools, teaching, post office, etc

Thus, in our well-functioning society, the varn remains the same, their definition remains the same, but their profile changes as follows –

Shoodra: Working class that provides services to others mostly using physical labor – construction workers, sales people, support engineers, BPO workers, drivers, pilots, flight attendants etc

Vaishya: Working and business class that uses more vyavharik buddhi – software and other engineers, media people including news, films and TV, businessmen etc

Kshatriya: Managerial class, security, law & order – politicians, various managers in the organizations, police, army and other security forces, enforcement organizations etc

Brahman: Experts in their field - researchers, scientists, teachers, doctors, priests, yogis, saints etc

I also recommend adding another varn for short term –

Pretenders – Those who pretend to be in one of the four varnas but deceive, lie, cheat their way to their selfish interests. Why this is short term? Because over a period, members of this category should move to other varnas.

Categorization into varnas is for broadly putting together groups of professions anyways. Although there are castes called Brahman, Rajput/Thakur, Bania etc but it is the caste that defines the profession. So how do we implement the new varn vyavastha or caste system?

Firstly, from society’s perspective, it is identifying yourself to your actual caste such as “Software Engineer”, “Film actor” or a “BPO worker”. That should suffice professionally who you are. The key is then if you want to become a brahman such as a scientist – you know you must work hard.  In this new vyavastha when an auto-driver’s son becomes in IAS, he becomes a kshatriya and when a priest’s son becomes an auto-driver, he becomes a shoodra.

Secondly, from the government perspective, the rules must be written to provide extra help to those that want to grow into the higher varna ultimately to the caste of self-realized.

Since 1871 we have come from small number of castes and categories to a huge number of them. And we live in the times of caste wars sponsored by the divisive politicians, media, our external enemies who hope to benefit from these divisions. Britishers benefited from divide and rule then, the political masters are benefiting now! It is high time we see through this game and rise above our existing mindset about castes and apply a new approach that helps us all get to where we are all supposed to go – self-realization!

So what is your caste?