Which of the following are prescribed as the duties of Vaishyas according to the Dharmashastras? 1. Studying the Vedas 2. Engaging in trade Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- (a)1 only
- (b)2 only
- (c)Both 1 and 2
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2
Correct — C, Both 1 and 2. The Dharmashastras give the Vaishya a set of duties that includes both. Trade is the occupation the varna is named for, along with agriculture and the tending of cattle. Studying the Vedas belongs to it as well, because the Vaishya is one of the three twice-born varnas — entitled to the sacred-thread ceremony and therefore to Vedic study. What the texts reserve to the Brahmana alone is not study but teaching, and with it the performing of sacrifices for others and the receiving of gifts. A Vaishya may study the Veda, commission a sacrifice and make gifts; he may not teach, officiate or receive.
- (a)1 only — Accepts Vedic study and rejects trade, which reverses the more obvious of the two. Trade, agriculture and cattle-rearing are the occupations the texts assign to the Vaishya by name.
- (b)2 only — The natural wrong answer, and it comes from confusing study with teaching. The Vaishya is twice-born and is prescribed Vedic study; only teaching the Veda is closed to him.
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — Would leave the Vaishya with no prescribed duty at all, which no Dharmashastra does.
The Dharmashastras, the best known of which is the Manusmriti, set out duties by varna. The Brahmana studies and teaches the Veda, performs sacrifices and has them performed, gives gifts and receives them. The Kshatriya protects the people, administers justice, studies the Veda, has sacrifices performed and gives gifts. The Vaishya adds agriculture, trade and cattle-rearing to that same second set. The Shudra is assigned service to the other three. Three of the six functions are therefore shared by the twice-born, and three belong to the Brahmana alone.
The examiner is testing the study-and-teach asymmetry, which is the most useful single distinction in this topic. It also explains a great deal about how the system was justified and how it was contested — the Bhakti and Virashaiva movements challenged precisely the idea that access to sacred learning could be allotted by birth. Two cautions belong on a card like this. What the Dharmashastras prescribe is a normative order composed by Brahmana authors, and the historical evidence shows it was widely departed from — Buddhist and Jaina texts record merchants and rulers who fit the scheme badly, and inscriptions record occupations that cut across it. The texts are evidence of an ideal, not a description of society.
- Brahmana, Kshatriya and Vaishya are the twice-born varnas, entitled to the sacred-thread ceremony and to Vedic study.
- Teaching the Veda, officiating at sacrifices for others and receiving gifts are reserved to the Brahmana.
- Agriculture, trade and cattle-rearing are the occupations prescribed for the Vaishya.
- The Shudra is assigned service to the other three varnas and is outside the twice-born category.
- The Manusmriti is the best known Dharmashastra; the scheme it lays out is a normative ideal rather than a record of practice.
Study is shared by the three twice-born varnas; teaching is not, and that single line separates the right answer from the tempting one.
- Sliding from study to teach — the texts allow the first to three varnas and the second to one.
- Assuming the Vaishya was excluded from ritual life; he was twice-born and could commission sacrifices.
- Treating the Dharmashastra scheme as a description of how society actually worked.
Varna items are usually decided by a single verb. Read whether the statement says study or teach, perform or have performed, give or receive.
UPSC_2022_GS1_Q932022Which one of the following statements about Sangam literature in ancient South India is correct?
- (a) Sangam poems are devoid of any reference to material culture.
- (b) The social classification of Varna was known to Sangam poets.
- (c) Sangam poems have no reference to warrior ethic.
- (d) Sangam literature refers to magical forces as irrational.
Answer(b) The social classification of Varna was known to Sangam poets.
The same scheme seen from outside the Dharmashastra tradition. Tamil poets of the Sangam age knew the varna classification, which is evidence of how far the northern normative order had travelled by then.
- practice — not a real PYQ
According to the Dharmashastras, which of the following functions was reserved for the Brahmana alone?
- (a)Studying the Vedas
- (b)Teaching the Vedas
- (c)Making gifts
- (d)Having sacrifices performed
Answer(b) Teaching the Vedas — study, gift-giving and commissioning sacrifices were open to all three twice-born varnas.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following varnas was NOT counted among the twice-born?
- (a)Brahmana
- (b)Kshatriya
- (c)Vaishya
- (d)Shudra
Answer(d) Shudra — the sacred-thread ceremony, and with it the twice-born status, was restricted to the other three.