dev Posted October 25, 2006 Report Share Posted October 25, 2006 Color (varna) So what are the “colors” of the four castes? There may be more than one answer to this, however in the dharma (or grihya) sutras, ancient texts dealing with the gurukula, the place where Hindus were originally educated, we find colors assigned to the clothing of the four castes. (Notice that all four castes were going to attend the school, not just some “higher” castes.) White was the color of shudras; yellow the color or vaishyas; red the color of kshatriyas, and orange the color of brahmins. White is actually not a color, but all colors combined. This would be appropriate for shudras, since they were involved in the duties of all the castes. It also expresses their social fluidity, for originally the shudras were the most frequently transferred into other castes. Yellow is the auric color of intelligence and initiative–an essential trait for agriculturalists, artisans, merchants, and those that comprise the vaishya caste. Red is the color of dynamic power, discipline and assertiveness, so it naturally fits the kshatriya castes members. Orange (gerua) is a combination of yellow and red, for brahmins must have the mental acumen and vigorous personal energies of the vaishyas and kshatriyas combined with a dominant spiritual consciousness. Fire is the essence of the original sacred rites of India, so its orange color represents spiritual consciousness and its transmuting powers. It is interesting that all four colors are to be found in levels of the Indian monastic life. The standard color of full sannyas is appropriately orange, for it is the color of the crematory fire in which the earthly body is consumed, and the sannyasi’s aim is to reduce all that is earthly within himself by means of the fire of spiritual realization. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 26, 2006 Report Share Posted October 26, 2006 Read the Bhagavad gita if you want to properly understand God and your own soul. This sort of research into varna, colour and caste is mundane knowledge. In many schools in many continents, people were segregated by teachers who were not saints living in transcendental consciousness of the Divine. Teachers such as Sanda and Amarka of the ancient lineage of Sukra Acharyya in India taught their students reading and writing and the art of politics. Similarly in Greece. Similarly in Palestine, where the Hebrew students learned that their god Yahweh wanted his chosen people to exterminate all the neighbouring tribes. Similarly in Babylon. Similarly in London, where students were told that the Scots are against "us" and "we" are against them. Find God. Forget about segregation and the history of ethnic groups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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