Vaishya varna

E534863

Vaishya varna is the traditional third tier of the Hindu caste hierarchy, historically associated with merchants, traders, and agriculturalists responsible for commerce and economic activity.

All labels observed (3)

Label Occurrences
Vaishya 8
Vaishya varna canonical 1
Vaishyas 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (51)

Predicate Object
instanceOf social class in Hinduism ⓘ
varna ⓘ
associatedRitualPrivilege right to study certain Vedic texts (historically, in theory) ⓘ
associatedWith agriculture ⓘ
business ⓘ
cattle rearing ⓘ
trade ⓘ
conceptualizedAs supporters of economic life ⓘ
contrastedWith Brahmin varna as priestly class ⓘ
Kshatriya varna as warrior-ruler class ⓘ
Shudra varna as service and labor class ⓘ
dutyInDharmashastra lending money ⓘ
paying taxes ⓘ
tending cattle ⓘ
tilling the land ⓘ
trade and commerce ⓘ
etymologyFrom Sanskrit word "vaiśya" ⓘ
etymologyRelatedTo Sanskrit root "viś" (clan, settlement, people) ⓘ
geographicContext Indian subcontinent ⓘ
linked to: South Asia
groupedWith Brahmin varna ⓘ
linked to: Brahmins

Kshatriya varna ⓘ
Shudra varna ⓘ
linked to: Shudras
historicalEconomicRole financing kingdoms ⓘ
long-distance trade ⓘ
market management ⓘ
tax-paying peasantry ⓘ
historicalPeriodOfFormation late Vedic period ⓘ
initiationRite upanayana ⓘ
linkedJatiGroups Agarwal community ⓘ
Bania communities ⓘ
Chettiar community ⓘ
Komati community ⓘ
Marwari trading communities ⓘ
various trading and cultivating castes in North India ⓘ
normativeSourceType Brahmanical legal and ritual texts ⓘ
partOf Hindu varna system ⓘ
positionInVarnaHierarchy third ⓘ
religiousContext Hinduism ⓘ
scripturalMention Bhagavad Gita ⓘ
scripturalSource Dharmashastra texts ⓘ
linked to: Dharmashastras

Manusmriti ⓘ
socialFunction agricultural production ⓘ
credit and moneylending ⓘ
maintenance of markets ⓘ
production and distribution of goods ⓘ
traditionalFunction commerce ⓘ
economic activity ⓘ
traditionalRole agriculturalists ⓘ
merchants ⓘ
traders ⓘ
traditionalStatus twice-born ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (10)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Agrawal → associatedWithSocialGroup → Vaishya varna ⓘ
Kshatriya → comesBefore → Vaishya ⓘ
linked to: Vaishya varna
Lohana community → socialClassification → Vaishya ⓘ
linked to: Vaishya varna
Hindu varna system → includesVarna → Vaishya ⓘ
linked to: Vaishya varna
Hindu varna system → hasThirdVarna → Vaishya ⓘ
linked to: Vaishya varna
Hindu varna system → assignsRoleTo → Vaishya ⓘ
linked to: Vaishya varna
Sandhyavandanam → performedBy → Vaishya ⓘ
linked to: Vaishya varna
Shudras → lowerVarnaThan → Vaishyas ⓘ
linked to: Vaishya varna
Banias → associatedWithCaste → Vaishya ⓘ
linked to: Vaishya varna
Shravana Nakshatra → caste → Vaishya ⓘ
linked to: Vaishya varna