Vaishya
Topic: Society in Early India: Kinship, Varna-Jati, Women · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 3 "Kinship, Caste and Class - Early Societies"
Meaning
The Vaishyas were the third of the four varnas. The Dharmasutras and Dharmashastras gave them the same religious duties as Kshatriyas: studying the Vedas, having sacrifices performed and making gifts. Their own work was agriculture, pastoralism (herding animals) and trade. The Purusha sukta says they came from the thighs of the first cosmic man. In practice, other groups traded too, and the line between varnas was often blurred.
Example
Trade was meant to be Vaishya work, but a 5th-century CE inscription names two brothers who were donors as kshatriya-vaniks, meaning Kshatriya merchants. In the play Mrichchhakatika (c. 4th century CE), the merchant hero Charudatta is a Brahmana.
Don't confuse with
- Vanik: a word for "merchant" based on what someone does for a living. A vanik could belong to any varna, while Vaishya is a varna fixed by birth.