Three processes coincided with one another in post-Vedic times. These were Aryanization, ironization, and urbanization. Aryanization meant the spread of the Indo-Aryan languages such as Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Pali. It also meant the dominance of the upper orders and the subjugation of women. In the later Vedic texts, the term arya denoted the first three varnas, excluding the shudras and [...]
From the sixth century onwards, some changes occurred in social organization. In the Gangetic plains in north India, the vaishyas were regarded as free peasants, but land grants created landlords between the peasants, on the one hand, and the king, on the other, so the vaishyas were reduced to the level of the shudras. This modified the old brahmanical order, [...]
Read this article to learn about the Varnashrama (Varna System and Ashramas in Hinduism ! The social structure, based on Varna system and asramas, was known as varnashrama. (a) Varna System: The later Vedic society came to be divided into four varnas called the Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Sudras. The growing cult of sacrifices enormously added to the power of [...]
