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| {{short description|One of the four classes of the Hindu varna system}} | |||
| {{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}} | |||
| {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}} | |||
| {{Hinduism small}} | {{Hinduism small}} | ||
| '''Vaishya''' is one of the four '']'' of the ] social order. | |||
| '''Vaishya''' (]: वैश्य, ''vaiśya'') is one of the four ] of the ] ] social order in ]. Vaishyas are classed third in the order of ] hierarchy. | |||
| The occupation of Vaishyas consists mainly of agriculture, taking care of cattle, trade and other business pursuits as mentioned in the ]. | |||
| ==Traditional duties== | ==Traditional duties== | ||
| Hindu religious texts assigned Vaishyas to traditional roles in agriculture and cattle-rearing but over time they came to be landowners, traders and money-lenders.<ref>{{cite book |url= |
Hindu religious texts assigned Vaishyas to traditional roles in ] and ], but over time they came to be ], ] and ].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K85NA7Rg67wC&pg=PA24 |page=24 |title=The First Great Political Realist|author-link=Roger Boesche |first=Roger |last=Boesche|isbn=978-0-73910-607-5 |date=1 March 2003 }}</ref> They ranked third in the varna system below ] and ] and traditionally had the responsibility to provide sustenance or patronage for the higher varnas.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Worlds together Worlds Apart Volume 1|last=Pollard. E., Roserngerg. C., Tignor, R. L.|publisher=W.W. Norton &Company, Inc.|year=2015|isbn=978-0-393-91847-2|location=New York, NY|pages=142}}</ref> The Vaishyas, along with members of the ] and ] varnas, claim '']'' status ("twice born", a second or spiritual birth) after sacrament of initiation as in Hindu theology.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n84OAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA112 |page=112 |title=Western Sociologists on Indian Society: Marx, Spencer, Weber, Durkheim, Pareto |first=Gurmukh Ram |last=Madan |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-71008-782-9}}</ref> Indian traders were widely credited for the spread of ] to regions as far as ].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/asiainwesternwor00ains |url-access=registration |page= |title=Asia in western and world history |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |first1=Ainslie Thomas |last1=Embree | author-link1 = Ainslie Embree|first2=Carol |last2=Gluck | author-link2 = Carol Gluck|isbn=978-1-56324-265-6 |date=1 January 1997 }}</ref> | ||
| Historically, Vaishyas have been involved in roles other than their traditional pastoralism, trade and commerce. According to ] |
Historically, Vaishyas have been involved in roles other than their traditional ], trade and commerce. According to historian ], the ] was a Vaishya dynasty that "may have appeared as a reaction against oppressive rulers".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i_sIE1sO5kwC&pg=PA69 |title=Early medieval Indian society: a study in feudalisation |first=Ram Sharan |last=Sharma |author-link=Ram Sharan Sharma |publisher=Orient Blackswan |year=2003 |orig-year=2001 |page=69 |access-date=26 January 2012|isbn=978-8-12502-523-8 }}</ref> | ||
| Many Vaishyas are vegetarian due to the influence of ] and ] which preaches the concept of ] which forbade killing of animals for food.<ref>{{ cite book | url= https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304870850 | title = Civilizing Tastes: From Caste to Class in South Indian Foodways| date = 2013 | first = James | last = Staples}}</ref> | |||
| ==Modern communities== | |||
| The Vaisya community consist of several ] or subcastes, notably the ]s,<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Singh |editor-first = Kumar Suresh |editor-link=Kumar Suresh Singh |first1= B. V. |last1=Bhanu |first2=V. S. |last2=Kulkarni |title=People of India: Maharashtra, Part One |volume=XXX |year=2004 |publisher=Popular Prakashan, for ] |location=Mumbai |oclc=58037479 |isbn=81-7991-100-4 |url=http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN8179911004&id=DEAlCTxJowUC&pg=PA46 |accessdate=2012-04-25 |page=46}}</ref> ]s, ]s, ]s, ]s, ]s and ]s of the north; ]s, ]s, the ] of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, Vanika Vaishyas of Kerala, ]<ref></ref> of Tamil Nadu, the ]s of Konkan and Goa, Ladshakhiy Wani in North and Western Maharashtra and the ] and ]s of the west. | |||
| ==See also== | == See also == | ||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
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| ==External links== | ==External links== | ||
| {{commonscat}} | * {{commonscat-inline}} | ||
| * | |||
| * | * | ||
| {{Hindudharma}} | |||
| ⚫ | ] | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| ⚫ | ] | ||
Latest revision as of 07:44, 13 November 2024
One of the four classes of the Hindu varna system
Vaishya (Sanskrit: वैश्य, vaiśya) is one of the four varnas of the Vedic Hindu social order in India. Vaishyas are classed third in the order of Varna hierarchy.
The occupation of Vaishyas consists mainly of agriculture, taking care of cattle, trade and other business pursuits as mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita.
Traditional duties
Hindu religious texts assigned Vaishyas to traditional roles in agriculture and cattle-rearing, but over time they came to be landowners, traders and money-lenders. They ranked third in the varna system below Brahmins and Kshatriyas and traditionally had the responsibility to provide sustenance or patronage for the higher varnas. The Vaishyas, along with members of the Brahmin and Kshatriya varnas, claim dvija status ("twice born", a second or spiritual birth) after sacrament of initiation as in Hindu theology. Indian traders were widely credited for the spread of Indian culture to regions as far as southeast Asia.
Historically, Vaishyas have been involved in roles other than their traditional pastoralism, trade and commerce. According to historian Ram Sharan Sharma, the Gupta Empire was a Vaishya dynasty that "may have appeared as a reaction against oppressive rulers".
Many Vaishyas are vegetarian due to the influence of Jainism and Buddhism which preaches the concept of ahimsa which forbade killing of animals for food.
See also
References
- Boesche, Roger (1 March 2003). The First Great Political Realist. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-73910-607-5.
- Pollard. E., Roserngerg. C., Tignor, R. L. (2015). Worlds together Worlds Apart Volume 1. New York, NY: W.W. Norton &Company, Inc. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-393-91847-2.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Madan, Gurmukh Ram (1979). Western Sociologists on Indian Society: Marx, Spencer, Weber, Durkheim, Pareto. Taylor & Francis. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-71008-782-9.
- Embree, Ainslie Thomas; Gluck, Carol (1 January 1997). Asia in western and world history. M.E. Sharpe. p. 361. ISBN 978-1-56324-265-6.
- Sharma, Ram Sharan (2003) . Early medieval Indian society: a study in feudalisation. Orient Blackswan. p. 69. ISBN 978-8-12502-523-8. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
- Staples, James (2013). Civilizing Tastes: From Caste to Class in South Indian Foodways.
External links
Media related to Vaishya at Wikimedia Commons- All India Vaish Federation
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