Kshatriya

“ He has lived and guided himself by the Shastra, the moral and social code. The thought which preoccupies him, the standard which he obeys is the dharnm, that collective Indian conception of the religious, social and moral rule of conduct, and especially the rule of the station and function to which he belongs, he the Kshatriya, the high-minded, self-governed, chivalrous prince and warrior and leader of Aryan men. ”

“ It is my conviction that the Kshatriya who rendereth help unto a Brahmana in anything acquireth regions of bliss hereafter. So also a Kshatriya who saveth the life of a Kshatriya achieveth that great fame in this world as in the other. A Kshatriya rendering help unto a Vaisya also on this earth certainly acquires world-wide popularity. One of the kingly tribe should protect even the Sudra who cometh to him for protection. If he doeth so, in his next life he receiveth his birth in a royal line, commanding prosperity and the respect of other kings. ”

“ Beholding her son deprived of life, Pujani, with tears gushing down her cheeks, and heart burning with grief, wept bitterly and said, 'Alas, nobody should live with a Kshatriya or make friends with him or take delight in any intercourse with him. When they have any object to serve, they behave with courtesy. When that object has been served they cast off the instrument. The Kshatriyas do evil unto all. They should never be trusted. Even after doing an injury they always seek to soothe and assure the injured for nothing. ”

“ At the outset, I must confess that notwithstanding the worth-basis of this Chaturvarnya, it is an ideal to which I cannot reconcile myself. In the first place, if under the Chaturvarnya of the Arya Samajists an individual is to take his place in the Hindu Society according to his worth. I do not understand why the Arya Samajists insist upon labelling men as Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. A learned man would be honoured without his being labelled a Brahmin. A soldier would be respected without his being designated a Kshatriya. ”

“ They are described by ancient authors as one of the most powerful nations of India. Their very name indicates their warlike propensities and predominance, for if it is not identical with that of the military caste, Kshatriya, it is at least a modified form of that word. Arrian subsequently (vi. 15) mentions a tribe of independent Indians whose name is a still closer transliteration of Kshatriya, the Xathroi, whose territories lay between the Indus and the lower course of the Akesinês. ”

“ Indeed, with Krishna's help, slaying our foes headed by Karna, we are able to rule the entire earth (thus) conquered by our own arms. Endued with manliness, we are yet overwhelmed with calamities, in consequence of thy gambling vice, while the foolish sons of Dhritarashtra are growing stronger with the tributes (gathered from dependent kings) . O mighty monarch, it behoveth thee to keep in view the duties of the Kshatriya. O great king, it is not the duty of a Kshatriya to live in the woods. The wise are of the opinion that to rule is the foremost duty of a Kshatriya. ”

“ Surely the caste of that ancient time must have been freedom itself compared to the system of later times, when the Kshatriya, the Vaisya, and the Sudra were doomed throughout their lives never to rise above the station in which they had been born, though they might sink to the lowest Pariahs if they disobeyed the laws of caste. ”

“ Then the Baniya, having reflected, said to himself, ‘He who is acquainted with the Shastras is a Brahman, he who could shoot an arrow at the sound was [Pg 159] a Kshatriya or warrior, and he who made the cloth was a Shudra or servile. But the youth who understands the language of birds is of our own caste. To him, therefore, will I marry her.’ And accordingly he proceeded with the betrothal of his daughter. ”

“ For from of old the classic, if academic, division of the Indian peoples has been supposed to be in four great caste or class abstractions, of which the second or warrior class is known as Kshatriya. And in fact it was into this caste that the invaders were by artful priests assumed to be adopted. The first hordes, from Bactria and the Oxus, had become followers of Buddha, a casteless faith in which the Brahman priesthood lost its privileges. ”

“ Another passage states: “If some pious king belonging to the Kshatriya or some other caste should defeat the Mlechchhas7 and establish a settlement of the four castes in their territories, and accept the Mlechchhas thus defeated as Chandālas (the most impure caste in ancient Hindu society) [20] as is the case in Aryavarrta, then that country also becomes fit for sacrifice. For no land is impure of itself. A land becomes so only by contact.” ”

“ The claim to the title is not confined to the old military classes desirous of asserting their former position, for we find it put forward by such castes as Vannias and Shānāns, the one a caste of farmers and labourers, the other toddy-drawers. It is not possible to distribute these pseudo-Kshatriyas among their proper castes, as 70,394 of them have given Kshatriya as the sub-division also." It is noted, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, that "Parasurāma is said to have slain all the Kshatriyas seven times over, but 80,000 persons have returned themselves as such in this Presidency alone. ”

“ It was for long the custom to regard the Rājpūts as the direct descendants and representatives of the old Kshatriya or warrior class of the Indian Aryans, as described in the Vedas and the great epics. Even Colonel Tod by no means held this view in its entirety, and modern epigraphic research has caused its partial or complete abandonment Mr. V.A. Smith indeed says:1 “The main points to remember are that the Kshatriya or Rājpūt caste is essentially an occupational caste, composed of all clans following the Hindu ritual who actually undertook the act of government ”

“ The Kshatriya rulers compel these Sudras for their own good as well as the good of all other classes of people to take service under the three upper castes as domestic servants, so that by contact and association with their masters and by the examples of their purer ideas and habits of life they may be elevated in morals and conduct. ”

“ So that, even when a Kshatriya has fallen into the deepest degradation, still it holds good that the Kshatriyas are higher, and the Brahman inferior.
28. ‘Moreover it was one of the Brahmā gods, Sanaṃ-kumāra, [47] who uttered this stanza [48] :
[\q 122/] “The Kshatriya is the best of those among this folk who put their trust in lineage. But he who is perfect in wisdom and righteousness, he is the best among gods and men.”
‘Now this stanza, Ambaṭṭha, was well sung and not ill sung by the Brahmā Sanaṃ-kumāra, well said and not ill said, full of meaning and not void thereof And I too approve it ”

“ A Kshatriya begs of no man; what is refused him he seizeth in battle at all times.... Duryodhana still clings to Yudhishthira's kingdom, despite the wise counsel of Bhishma and Drona. Remember, O Balarama, it is not sinful to slay one's enemies, but it is shameful to beg from them. I now declare my advice to be that we should give the Kauravas an opportunity to restore the throne of Yudhishthira; if they hesitate to do so, then let the Pandavas secure justice on the battlefield. ”

“ Such was the origin of the caste system in India, in the second period of Hindu history. The system arose out of weakness and lifelessness among the people, and, to a certain extent, it has perpetuated that weakness ever since. At the close of the period, however, there appears to have been a reaction, and the Kshatriyas at last tried to prove their equality with the Brahmans in learning and religious culture. WeaWearied with the rituals and ceremonials prescribed by priests, the Kshatriyas started new speculations and bold inquiries after the truth. ”

“ It cannot, however, be doubted that long before that time heroic song had been diligently cultivated in India at the courts of princes and among Kshatriyas, the knightly order, generally. In the Mahābhārata itself the transmission of epic legend is in some way connected with the Sūtas, a social class which, in the caste system, is defined as resulting from the union of Kshatriya men with Brāhmaṇa Women, and which supplied the office of charioteers and heralds, as well as (along with the Māgadhas) that of professional minstrels. ”

“ Their ancestors were socially superior to themselves, but they do not content themselves with stating this, but in places are taking to wearing the sacred thread of the twice-born, and claim to be Kshatriyas. They have published pamphlets to prove their descent from that caste, and they returned themselves in thousands, especially in Godāvari, as Agnikula Kshatriyas or Vannikula Kshatriyas, meaning Kshatriyas of the fire race. ”

“ Those persons in the world that now go by the name of Kshatriyas are inferior (in everything) to those Kshatriyas that Rama, the son of Jamadagnya, exterminated.’ O lord of the earth, O bull of the Bharata race, thou knowest what form of rule these Kshatriyas, guided by the instructions traditionally handed down from generation to generation, have established amongst their own order, and how far they are competent to perform the Rajasuya sacrifice. The numerous royal lines and other ordinary Kshatriyas all represent themselves to be the descendants of Aila and Ikshwaku. ”

“ They make no difference between Brahmans and Kshatriyas, for Nânac was a Kshatriya, and none of their Gurus was a Brahman, as stated above. Thus they subjected the Kshatriyas to the tribe of Jats, [467] who are an inferior caste of Baisas (Viśas) . The deputies of the Gurus are besides frequently Jats. They honour equally Brahmans and Kshatriyas. 271 The Guru is chosen at the discretion of his followers. It should be known that, in the time of the Afghan sultans, the Umras were called successors or deputies of Ali ”

“ Therefore, the foremost of intelligent persons, and conversant with every lore, thou shouldst along with councilors like me, strive to beat thy foe. Find I none in the three worlds, O Rāghava, who can stay in fight before thee equipped with thy bow. Thy business entrusted to these monkeys shall not (anyway) suffer. And soon, crossing over the boundless main, thou shalt behold Sitā. Therefore, O king, renounce thy sorrow, and call up wrath. Those Kshatriyas that conceive no anger in respect of their enemies, have their activity annulled; and all fear furious persons. ”

“ They say they are Kshatriyas, and at marriages use a string made of cotton and wool, the combination peculiar to Kshatriyas, to tie the wrist of the happy couple. But they eat fowls, which a strict Kshatriya would not do, and their claims are not universally admitted by other Hindus. They have three endogamous sub-divisions, viz., Murikināti, Nandimandalam, and Sūryavamsam, of which the first two are territorial.” According to another version, the sub-divisions are Sūrya (sun) , Chandra (moon) , and Nandimandalam. In a note on the Rāzus of the Godāvari district, the [249] Rev. ”

“ The red men, according to the Mahâbhârata, were the Kshatriyas—the warrior caste—who were afterward engaged in a fierce contest with the whites—the Brahmans—and were nearly exterminated, although some of them survived, and from their stock Buddha was born. ”

“ The exact position held by the Kshatriyas and the constitution of their class are not quite clear, but there is no doubt that the Brāhmans and Kshatriyas formed the early aristocracy, ranking above the cultivators, and a few other castes have since attained to this position. From early times, as is shown by an ordinance of Manu, men of the higher castes or classes were permitted, after taking a woman of their own class for the first wife, to have second and subsequent wives from any of the classes beneath them. ”

“ The Rāzus, Mr.Stuart writes further,† [2] are "the most numerous class of those who claim to be Kshatriyas in North Arcot. They are found almost entirely in the Karvetnagar estate, the zemindar being the head of the caste. As a class they are the handsomest and best developed men
RĀZU BRIDEGROOM.
in the country, and differ so much in feature and build from other Hindus that they may usually be distinguished at a glance. They seem to have entirely abandoned the military inclinations of their ancestors, never enlist in the native army, and almost wholly occupy themselves in agriculture. ”

“ Those who, being unable to subdue the influence of Rāja, are swayed by passions and become bold, spirited and filled with material desires are called Kshatriyas. They become rulers of the other two castes. These are the first Kings and Rulers of men. But they rule according to the injunctions of inspired Codes of laws, laws which are propounded with the object of the highest good of humanity in view, as well as the propagation of peace and goodwill among all classes of people. ”

“ Their caste affix is always Rao. It is impossible to discover to what particular Sūdra division each belongs, for they do not seem to know, and take advantage of being away from their own country to assert that they are Kshatriyas—a claim which is ridiculed by other castes. In marriage they are particular to take a bride only from within the circle of their own family, so that an admixture of the original castes is thus avoided. Their language is Marāthi, but they speak Telugu or Tamil as well, and engage in many professions. ”