The meaning and definition of the caste

The word caste, Jati in Nepali, is derived from the Spiniest language. There, the meaning of caste is like race, lineage or breed. In the wide sense, the whole human being is a single caste, a single race or a breed. Because of certain characters, traits and nationalities, physical or genetic changes according to their environments, the race of man is further divided into different groups. For example, Nepali, Indians,Chinese, Japanese, are the races divided according to the nationality; Aryan, Mongol, Negro are the races divided according to the physical structure. According to the Brihat Nepali Sabdakosh, Nepali dictionary, the caste is the one that distinguished according to the nationality and geographic spaces. According to the Hindu socio-religious traditions, the caste like Brahman, Kasetri, Vaisa and Sudra was divided according to their occupations and cultural traditions.

To know about the term caste, first, we should be aware of the word varna. The word Varna derived by the word Varana wich means to embrace or to accept or to involved in some occupations. That leads the meaning of varna as the people of different occupations and different social. Thus,the varna system is based on the quality of work and spaces their working environments.