Post-Mauryan era i.e. Shunga, Kanva and
Varna system in the Satavahana period
The Mauryan rulers gave state protection to Buddhism and Jainism, but due to the principle of non-violence of these religions, the Maurya Empire itself collapsed and there was a reaction against these religions in the society. As a result, the Sunga, Kanva and Satavahana dynasties emerged respectively, the Brahmin-ruling dynasties. These dynasties were the followers of Brahmanical religion.
The ancient Vedic religion was revived in a new form during the reign of these dynasties. Buddhism and Jainism 'superiority of the clan' Instead of the person's 'virtue and deeds' But it is known from the literature of Shunga and Kanva period that the excellence of Brahmins was re-accepted in the society and the distinction of Varna gained importance again.
Manusmriti, Yagyavalakya Smriti, Narada Smriti and Brihaspati Smriti got their present form during the reign of Shunga and Kanva dynasties. Panini's Ashtadhyayi was also composed during the Shunga period. Bhasa's Sanskrit plays were also produced during this period. Similarly, Valmiki's Ramayana also got its present form in Shunga period and Mahabharata got its present form in Gupta period.
Status of Brahmin Varna in Post-Mauryan Period
Birth Based Varna System: It is clear from the entire literature of Shunga, Kanva and Satavahana period that the importance of Varna system and the supremacy of Brahmins had been re-established in Indian society. Patanjali's 'Mahabhashya' According to Se, the Brahmin varna was based on birth. Patanjali has written that the caste identity of brahmins is to have Gaur varna, to have Kapil colored hair and to have pingal colored eyes.
In Magadha region, where the non-Aryans of Krishna Varna predominated, it was very easy to recognize the Brahmins by looking at the external form of the body. These brahmins could also be virtuous, learned and ascetic, but also those who were devoid of knowledge and good deeds. For a person born in Brahmin-kul, Patanjali wrote 'Jati-Brahmin' The word is used.
The scholar and the foolish, the virtuous and the wicked person born in the entire Brahmin clan 'caste Brahmin' But in order to be included in the varna, it was necessary to have knowledge of brahminic education and brahminic karma. In this way a person who is a brahmin by virtue and deed was considered to be in brahmin varna.
Main Functions of Brahmin Varna: In Manu Smriti and Yajnavalkya Smriti, brahmins are considered superior to other varnas. The main work of the Brahmins during this period was to study and teach the Vedas, to perform and perform yagyas, and to give and receive donations. The people of other varnas could neither teach the Vedas, nor perform Yagyas, nor could they accept donations.
According to Manu, if any person other than a Brahmin did this work, he was punished with imprisonment by snatching his property. The brahmin who performed these tasks had to be learned, ascetic and renouncer.
Hard role model for Brahmin: Manu gave the order that only if the life of Brahmins was idealized, their high position in the society could be accepted. Manu set a rigid ideal for the Brahmins. Manu has written that Brahmins should earn their living by collecting the remaining grains in the fields. He should store only that much food which is enough to fill a kumbhi (small pot) or to feed his family for three days.
A Brahmin should not accept more money in charity, because with more money his supernatural power ends, due to which he gets a prestige position in the society. Buddhism and Jainism opposed the superior position of Brahmins on the ground that Brahmins lived like common people and were not free from greed etc.
Therefore, in order to restore the excellence of Brahmins, the Smritikars laid great emphasis on the fact that the life of Brahmins should be free from greed. They should adopt akinchan-vritti and become a renouncer-ascetic. Only such brahmins should get a special status in the society.
Privileges of Brahmins: The Smritikars presented very high ideals for the Brahmins and also gave them privileges. Manu ordained that when a brahmin, after graduating from the Vedas, is returning from a guru, then the king should also leave the path for him. Since the brahmin is of a kinchan-vritti and does not accumulate any wealth, therefore the brahmins should not be taxed and the king should make arrangements for their maintenance.
Status of Karmichyut Brahmins: The privileges of Brahmins mentioned in the Smritis were only for those Brahmins who were really learned and ascetic and lead a life of high ideals. Brahmins doing ordinary business were not exempted from taxes and were given 'Adandya' Wasn't supposed to.
It is written in the Mahabharata that the brahmin 'Ashrotriya' (devoid of the knowledge of the Vedas) and 'Anahitagni' (devoid of sacrifices), tax and forced labor should be taken from them. According to the scriptures, Brahmins who are not knowledgeable and ascetic, they should be treated like other subjects. It is known from the smriti-texts that although in the post-Mauryan era, the determination of varna was based on birth, not on the basis of guna-karma, yet the karma-deleted Brahmins used to fall from their position.
The list of such brahmins has been given in the Manusmriti, who did not have the right to sit in the line of learned and virtuous brahmins. Manu called the thieves, gamblers, meat sellers, businessmen, usurers, nuts, singers and dancers, cultivators, beggars, animal sellers, craftsmen, doctors or priests. The brahmins who work and teach by taking a profession are considered equal to shudras and it is written that such brahmins go straight to hell.
Strict punishment for Brahmins: Due to the high position of the Brahmins in the society, they were kept free from certain types of punishment, but strict punishment was provided for the Brahmins who committed crimes like adultery, drinking and theft. According to the Bodhayana Dharmasutra, the Brahmin who commits such crimes should be excommunicated from the country by stained the head (frontal) with a burning iron.
Status of Kshatriya Varna in the post-Mauryan period
The position of Kshatriyas in the post-Mauryan period was more or less the same as it was in the post-Vedic period and the Maurya period. In the Buddhist period, the Kshatriyas competed with the Brahmins for superiority, but in the post-Mauryan period, the Kshatriyas stopped competing with the Brahmins. During this period the Brahmin varna was accepted as the best varna.
Even during this period, the main tasks of the Kshatriyas were to study, to perform sacrifices, to wear weapons, to give charity and to protect the subjects from external and internal enemies. His position in the society was considered superior and higher than the common man. Like the Brahmins, the Kshatriya Varna was also based on birth. In the post-Mauryan era, there were also Kshatriyas who earned their living by doing Vaishyakarma. In Manu-smriti and Yajnavalkya-smriti, Kshatriyas are permitted to perform the duties of Vaishyas in critical situations.
Status of Vaishya Varna in the Post-Mauryan Period
In this period also Vaishyas had the distinction of being dvija like the later Vedic period. He had an Upanayana ceremony. The main functions of the Vaishya Varna were reading, performing sacrifices, giving charity, farming, animal husbandry, trade, business and money making, but in critical situations, the Vaishyas were given the right to bear arms, so that they could protect the society and themselves. .
Like the Buddhist era, in the post-Mauryan era also many Vaishyas earned immense wealth in the form of Shresthi and Sarthavaha. Their social status was slightly higher than that of ordinary farmers, pastoralists and merchants. In the inscriptions of this era, there are mention of many such rich eminences who used to build temples etc., religious places and public use lakes, sarais, buildings etc.
Social Status of Shudra Varna in the Post-Mauryan Period
The social status of the Shudras in the post-Mauryan period was inferior to that of all the preceding periods. They could not study Vedas, perform rituals and rituals. He was only allowed to pacify his thirst for knowledge by listening to the history-puranas. It was enough for them to remember the deities and offer salutations to them. Serving the three higher varnas was the main duty of the Shudras.
Usually they did not have any property of their own. The punishment for them was also harsh. Although the position of Shudras was extremely inferior in the post-Mauryan era, yet they were not untouchables. According to Manu, a brahmin could have food with a shudra who works as a cattle herder in his service. Before the Buddhist era, the Shudras also used to cook food in the homes of the upper-caste householders, but later the work of the cook was taken away from the Shudras.
According to the Parashara Smriti, a Brahmin could eat food cooked by a Shudra, which was prepared in ghee, oil and milk. That is, the cooked food prepared by the Shudras was acceptable to the upper castes, but the raw food was not acceptable. The Shudras did not have the Upanayana ceremony, so they could not study as a brahmachari. They could not enter the vanaprastha and sanyasa ashrams.
Shudra castes in the post-Mauryan period
The Mahabhashya of Patanjali mentions those castes which were considered under the Shudra Varna. Patanjali has considered the chariot-cars, dhivars (kahars), tantuvayas (weavers), kumbhakars (potters), orejars (blacksmiths), napitas (barbers), leather carers (chamars), amirs and washermen as sudras. In the Vedic and later Vedic times, these castes were called Shilpi and 'Vish' belonged to the common people. In the Maurya period and the post-Mauryan period, they were considered Shudras.
Character Based Penal Code
Even in this period the penal law was based on varna. There was a different punishment for the same offense for each varna. If a Shudra had sex with a Brahmin woman, there was a system of death penalty for him, but if a Brahmin had sex with a Kshatriya or Vaishya woman, there was only a law of fine. If a Shudra abused a Brahmin, his tongue was cut off, but if a Brahmin abused a Shudra, he had to pay only 12 panas.
Hybrid Species
Ancient 'Aryan-people' When the (tribals) came into contact with the non-Aryans of Magadha, Anga and Banga of eastern India and the non-Aryans of southern India, mutual matrimonial relations began to take place between them. 'Vratya' (Involved in society by fasting) was accepted.
The soldiers who were among the non-Aryans were not pure Kshatriyas but 'Vratya' That was it. Vajji, Malla, Lichchavi etc all 'Vratya-Kshatriya' That was it. In the Janapadas of southern and eastern India, not only the Kshatriyas, but also the Brahmins were varna hybrids. The Satavahana kings were considered Brahmins by birth, but non-Aryan blood was present in them. According to Manusmriti, Bhujkantak and Avantya, 'Vratya Brahmins' were the children of and the origin of Malla, Jhalla and Lichchhavis 'Vratya Kshatriyas' from.
Karush and Satvat 'Vratya Vaishya' were the children of 'Magadha' from the fusion of Vaishyas and Kshatriyas and the fusion of Vaishyas and Brahmins 'Videh' People originated. Manusmriti states that Magadha, Vaideha, Avantya, Lichchavi etc. were not pure Aryans. Since they had acquired an important position in Indian society, they were brought under the purview of Chaturvarnya as Vratya-Brahmin, Vratya-Kshatriya, Vratya-Vaishya and Varnasankara. Gradually, he was completely annihilated in Chaturvarnya.
Adjustment of foreign invaders to Kshatriya Varna
In the centuries BCE, the Greeks and in the early centuries of Christ, foreign races like Shakas, Kushanas and Hunas invaded India and occupied various parts. They settled in different districts of India. Being a conqueror, he had a high social and political status. Being void of the ideas of caste distinction, Buddhism and Jainism did not find much difficulty in assimilating foreign Mlechcha conquerors into their religion.
The special policy formulated to include these powerful non-Aryans in the Chaturvarnya of the Sanatan Arya Dharma is of great importance from the point of view of the study of history. आर्य ब्राह्मणों ने व्यवस्था दी कि यवन, शक, पल्हव, द्रविड़़, पौण्ड्रक आदि समस्त जातियाँ मूलतः क्षत्रिय थीं किन्तु ब्राह्मणों से सम्पर्क न रहने के कारण ये वृषलत्व (म्लेच्छत्व) को प्राप्त हो गयीं। अब इन्हें पुनः ब्राह्मणों का सम्पर्क मिल गया और इन्होंने वैदिक सम्प्रदायों को अपना लिया है, इसलिए इन्हें क्षत्रिय समझा जाना चाहिए।
इस प्रकार समस्त विदेशी आक्रांता मनु द्वारा प्रतिपादित क्षत्रिय वर्ण में सम्मिलित मान लिए गए। ब्राह्मणों के सम्पर्क से वे वासुदेव कृष्ण और शिव की उपासना करते थे और उनमें वृषलत्व शेष नहीं रह गया था। इन विदेशी म्लेच्छों के पुरोहित, ‘ब्राह्मण वर्ण’ में सम्मिलित कर लिए गए, क्योंकि उन्होंने भी प्राचीन आर्य-धर्म को अंगीकार कर लिया था।