Arya denoted Caste/Ethnic Significations

[Guest guest]

Someone posted that the word Arya is not Indo-European which of course is incorrect.

The social structure that was later to become rigid and subspecialized

int the caste system already existed in main outline during the Vedic perio,

comprising the classes of brahmana, ksatriya, (or rajanya), vaisya, and sudra.

The first three were deemed arya, whereas the sudras sere an ary non=Aryan,

reerring to the darker skined indigenous elements of the population (the

Sanskrit term for cste, varna, means color). Arya as a term for the

Indo-European in group goes back to Indo-Iranian (Arayanam>Iran) and

Proto-Indo-European, for it reoccurs in Celtic in the Indo-European Far West

(Old Irish aire 'free, noble') and occurs as a comon noun in Hittite (ara

'social equal, peer'). Vedic society proper was thus tripartite, jcomposed of

formulators, word manipulators, idea men, intellectuals (brahman originally

meant roughly 'effective verbal construct, formula, prayer'), power types,

warriors, royal entourage (ksatram 'rule, dominion, raj 'king'), an villagers,

economic classes, tht is , herders, cultivators, artisan (vis- tribal village,

vesa household=Greek oi-kos). (Puhvel, Jan, Comparative Mythology, p. 45).

For THOSE who do read the Vedas and the Laws of Manu, Arya at the very least

denotes a group, an ethnic group. BTW, for those in US, the entire Vedas are not

readily available. I when to the U. and copied them in full. For those that

study Indo-European religions see the many connections and realize that Greek,

Roman, Hittite, Germanic, and Hindu all are derived from a common proto-IE

source.

 

 

Anthanarik