Caturvarnya, Cāturvarṇya, Caturvanrya: 15 definitions

Introduction:

Caturvarnya means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Marathi, Hindi. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.

Alternative spellings of this word include Chaturvarnya.

In Hinduism

Purana and Itihasa (epic history)

[«previous next»] — Caturvarnya in Purana glossary
Source: archive.org: Shiva Purana - English Translation

Cāturvarṇya (चातुर्वर्ण्य) refers to the “four castes” (born of Brahmā), according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.5.5 (“The Tripuras are fascinated).—Accordingly, as Arihan said to the Lord of the Three Cities: “[...] It is unnecessary to divide the people into different castes. When all are men who is superior and who is inferior? [...] Some of the ancestors thought that the four castes (cāturvarṇya) are born of mouth, arms, thighs etc. of Brahmā. But when we consider, this does not fit in properly. How can sons born of the same body or from the same body be of four different castes? Hence the divisions of castes and outcastes do not appear to be sound. Hence no difference between man and man should be entertained. [...]”.

Purana book cover
context information

The Purana (पुराण, purāṇas) refers to Sanskrit literature preserving ancient India’s vast cultural history, including historical legends, religious ceremonies, various arts and sciences. The eighteen mahapuranas total over 400,000 shlokas (metrical couplets) and date to at least several centuries BCE.

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Ayurveda (science of life)

[«previous next»] — Caturvarnya in Ayurveda glossary

Veterinary Medicine (The study and treatment of Animals)

Source: archive.org: The Elephant Lore of the Hindus

Cāturvarṇya (चातुर्वर्ण्य) refers to the “four castes”, according to the 15th century Mātaṅgalīlā composed by Nīlakaṇṭha in 263 Sanskrit verses, dealing with elephantology in ancient India, focusing on the science of management and treatment of elephants.—[Cf. chapter 3, “on unfavorable marks”]: “4. One that has lost an ear on the right side destroys the four castes (cāturvarṇya-vināśana); on the left side, he destroys craftsmen, and the king also becomes afflicted with disease”.

Ayurveda book cover
context information

Āyurveda (आयुर्वेद, ayurveda) is a branch of Indian science dealing with medicine, herbalism, taxology, anatomy, surgery, alchemy and related topics. Traditional practice of Āyurveda in ancient India dates back to at least the first millenium BC. Literature is commonly written in Sanskrit using various poetic metres.

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Languages of India and abroad

Marathi-English dictionary

[«previous next»] — Caturvarnya in Marathi glossary
Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionary

cāturvarṇya (चातुर्वर्ण्य).—n (S) The four original castes, viz. brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra.

Source: DDSA: The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-English

cāturvarṇya (चातुर्वर्ण्य).—n The four original castes.

context information

Marathi is an Indo-European language having over 70 million native speakers people in (predominantly) Maharashtra India. Marathi, like many other Indo-Aryan languages, evolved from early forms of Prakrit, which itself is a subset of Sanskrit, one of the most ancient languages of the world.

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Sanskrit dictionary

[«previous next»] — Caturvarnya in Sanskrit glossary
Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Cāturvarṇya (चातुर्वर्ण्य).—a. [caturvarṇa-ṣyañ] Suited to the four tribes, or belonging to them.

-rṇyam 1 The aggregate of the four original castes of the Hindus; एवं सामासिकं धर्मं चातु- र्वर्ण्येऽब्रवीन्मनुः (evaṃ sāmāsikaṃ dharmaṃ cātu- rvarṇye'bravīnmanuḥ) Manusmṛti 1.63; चातुर्वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं गुणकर्मविभागशः (cāturvarṇyaṃ mayā sṛṣṭaṃ guṇakarmavibhāgaśaḥ) Bhagavadgītā (Bombay) 4.13.

2) The duties of these four castes.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Cāturvarṇya (चातुर्वर्ण्य).—mfn.

(-rṇyaḥ-rṇyā-rṇyaṃ) Suited to the four tribes, belonging to them &c. n.

(-rṇyaṃ) The aggregate of the four orginal castes, the Brahman, Kshetriya, Vaisya and Sudra. E. catur four, and varṇa a class, ṣyañ aff.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Cāturvarṇya (चातुर्वर्ण्य).—i. e. catur -varṇa + ya, n. The four castes, [Mānavadharmaśāstra] 10, 30.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Cāturvarṇya (चातुर्वर्ण्य).—[neuter] the four castes.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Cāturvarṇya (चातुर्वर्ण्य):—[from cātura] n. ([gana] caturvarṇādi) the four castes, [Manu-smṛti; x; xii, 1 and 97; Mahābhārata; Rāmāyaṇa i, 1, 92 and 27, 16.]

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Cāturvarṇya (चातुर्वर्ण्य):—[cātur-varṇya] (rṇyaḥ) 1. m. The aggregate of the four original casts, brāhman, kshetriya, vaishya and sudra.

Source: DDSA: Paia-sadda-mahannavo; a comprehensive Prakrit Hindi dictionary (S)

Cāturvarṇya (चातुर्वर्ण्य) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit words: Cāuvanna, Cāuvvaṇṇa.

[Sanskrit to German]

Caturvarnya in German

context information

Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.

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Hindi dictionary

[«previous next»] — Caturvarnya in Hindi glossary
Source: DDSA: A practical Hindi-English dictionary

Cāturvaṇrya (चातुर्वण्र्य):—(a) pertaining to the four castes as prescribed under the ancient Indian social system (viz. [brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra]); —[vyavasthā] the (four) caste-system (as practised in the Indian tradition.

context information

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Kannada-English dictionary

[«previous next»] — Caturvarnya in Kannada glossary
Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpus

Cāturvaṇrya (ಚಾತುರ್ವಣ್ರ್ಯ):—[noun] = ಚಾತುರ್ವರ್ಣ [caturvarna].

context information

Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.

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