[Advaita-l] Varnashrama dharma begins in treta yuga?

[Santosh Rao]

Namskara Praveen,

I don't read sanskrit, though I find your answer interesting. Could you
explain further what the word used for this social class in Satya Yuga (in
Bhagavata Purana) means? A Hare Krishna I am friendly with sent me an
article that called this social class "hamsa caste," and that not only was
there only one social class in Satya Yuga, there was only one Veda, and it
wasn't until treta yuga when the social clases split into 4, and the Vedas
split into 3....I was under the impression that Vyasa didn't split the
Vedas until right before the beginning of Kali Yuga. Is that incorrect?

D.V.N. Sarma,

Is it confirmed that this is referencing two different Kalpas?

I was already familiar with the Purusha Sukta stating that the Varnas
sprang forth simultaneously during the creation...I advised my friend that
in such cases we take the sruti statement as pramana over the smriti, in
this case Bhagavata Purana. I was also going to advise him that perhaps
this was an interpolation by the bhagavata, or pancaratra sect(s) being
that Bhagavata Purana is mainly a "vaishnava" scripture and doesn't seem to
come into prominence until fairly recently in comparison to other puranas.
I also am not familiar with anything similar being said in Vishnu Purana.
But before I tell him that, I'd rather give him accurate info, rather than
my speculations...hence me asking the learned individuals here.

Thank you for the replies,

Santosh



On Sun, Apr 24, 2016 at 4:22 AM, Praveen R. Bhat <bhatpraveen at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Namaste Santoshji,
>
> Isn't the word used there हंसः for the social class? If so, that is not
> the same as चतुर्वर्ण। One who knows "सः अहम्" is हंसः। Then it would mean
> that in satyayuga, people of all varNas follow svadharma and because of
> that, as per the Gita, स्वकर्मणा तम् अभ्यर्च्य सिद्धिं विन्दति मानवः।
> (Of course, क्रमेण)।
>
> This may be one way to reconcile both.
>
> gurupAdukAbhyAm,
> --Praveen R. Bhat
> /* Through what should one know That owing to which all this is known!
> [Br.Up. 4.5.15] */
>
> On Sun, Apr 24, 2016 at 2:30 AM, Santosh Rao via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
>>
>> in bhagavata purana 11:17:10 Krishna tells uddhava that in satya yuga,
>> only
>> one social class was present. He says further that it wasn't until treta
>> yuga that the 4 varnas emanated from the purusha. Is it then correct to
>> say
>> that varnashrama dharma begins only from treta yuga onwards? How exactly
>> is
>> this to be understood?
>>
>>