Varna
- In the 10th Mandala of Rig Veda, under Purusha Shukta, it was maintained to divide the society on the basis of birth profession
- Brahman: emerged from mouth of Primeval man (intellectual work)
- Kshatriya: from shoulders & chest of primeval man (protection, ruling class)
- Vaishya: Thighs (service, trade, commerce)
- Shudra: Feet (manual labour, phy work)
Women
- NO political rights to women
- lost former relevance, Vidhata no more
- educational discourses still open to wome
- eg. Vidushi Gargi had intellectual debate with Rishi Yajnavalkya
- Widow remarriage still allowed under niyoga vivah
- no preference for child marriage
- many deteriorating types of marriage emerged
- Asur, Vivah, Paisach Vivah
- Pratiloma Vivah: upper caste women getting married to lower caste men
- frowned upon, social exclusion
- Pratilom Vivah: lower caste women getting married to upper caste men
Life & Society
- first 3 staged formalized; last one consolidated in age of Buddha & Mahavira
- Brahmacharya: period of edu and celibacy
- Grihashta: married life & its responsibilities
- Vanaprastha: forest stage of life & partial retirement from household life
- Sanyas: complete retirement from household life and striving for entitlement
- Gotra concept further consolidated at this time
- Gotra = spiritual genealogy from a common ancestor
- priestly classes came up with many rules associated with gotra
- prescribed exogamy of gotra in matrimonial affairs
- 16 Samskara or 16 important rituals of Hinduism were formalized
- eg. Garbhadhana, Rashi, Namokarana, Annaprashana, Chudakarana, Upanayan, Vivah, Antyesti
- Upnayana Samskara
- sacred thread ceremony
- second birth of person
- person has to assume responsibility for religious & household life
- only Brahmin, Kshtriya, Vaishaya entitled for this ceremony
- Shudra needed to pray for the world in the upper three varna and then in next world they could perform this samskara
- Brahmin, Kshtrya and Vaishaya were regarded as Dvij i.e. two consecutive human births out of 7 human births