Veda & Varna

Brian K Smith
Veda & Varna

What do canon (Veda) and caste (or at least the underpinnings of caste found in the varna system) have to do with one another? How are these two supposedly crucial qualities of Hinduism linked?

Four different orders of things and beings, each order divided into three parts, are here depicted as coeval: the three cosmological worlds of earth, atmosphere, and sky (the spatial order); three natural elements or "lights" (fire, wind, and sun) that are identical to three deities (Agni, Vayu, and Surya/Aditya);20 the three Vedas; and the three verbal essences of the Vedas (bhuh, bhuvah, and svah).