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बराह्मणो.अस्य मुखमासीद बाहू राजन्यः कर्तः | ऊरूतदस्य यद वैश्यः पद्भ्यां शूद्रो अजायत ||
12 The Brahman was his mouth, of both his arms was the Rajanya made.
His thighs became the Vaisya, from his feet the Sudra was produced.
The Brahman refers to the priestly class, the Rajanya to the administrative and warrior class, the Vaisya to the merchants and traders and craftsmen and artisans and (sometimes) farmers, and the Sudra to the manual labourer (of any type).
Pre-modern commentators used this as a justification for a caste system, and more importantly, caste-based discrimination. Modern commentators, on the other hand (like Swami Ramdev, or the people involved with the RSS or VHP), use the very same verse as a justification for equality. The logic goes that the same way that a person would not discriminate against his own foot, and would be equally horrified if his arms or feet were to be cut off, therefore discrimination on caste grounds is wrong.
The problem is, the people who listen would have listened anyway, and the people who are prejudiced don't listen.
Now it's like an inverted situation - all the orthodox bastions of Hinduism have accepted equality of the castes, but the prejudiced among the masses are not willing to follow suit.This thread is meant simply as a discussion on caste and casteism, and if anyone has any more questions regarding caste, feel free to ask.
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