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Possible definitions for varnas

varna
Any of the four traditional social classes of Hindu India. One of the hymns of the Rig Veda declares that the Brahman, the Kshatriya, the Vaishya, and the Sudra issued forth at creation from the mouth, arms, thighs, and feet of Prajapati. Traditional lawmakers specified a set of obligations, observed mainly in theory only, to each varna: the Brahman, to study and advise; the Kshatriya, to protect; the Vaishya, to cultivate; and the Sudra, to serve. An unofficial fifth class, the pancama, was created to include certain untouchables and tribal groups falling outside this system. The relationship of the caste system to the class system is complex; individual castes, of which there are dozens, have sought to raise their social rank by identifying with a particular varna, demanding the associated privileges of rank and honor.

Seaport city (pop. 1996 est.: 301,000), Bulgaria, on the Black Sea coast. Founded as Odessus by Milesian Greeks in the 6th cent. BC, it later was Thracian, Macedonian, and Roman. In AD 681 it became part of the first Bulgarian empire (c.679-1018) and was named Varna. It came under Ottoman domination in 1391. In 1444 it was the scene of a battle between Turkish and Hungarian armies in which Wladyslaw III, king of Poland and Hungary, was killed. Varna was ceded to Bulgaria by the 1878 Treaty of Berlin (see Congress of Berlin). It is an important administrative, economic, cultural, and resort center. Industries include exporting, shipbuilding, and manufacturing.

Any of the four traditional social classes of Hindu India. One of the hymns of the Rig Veda declares that the Brahman, the Kshatriya, the Vaishya, and the Sudra issued forth at creation from the mouth, arms, thighs, and feet of Prajapati. Traditional lawmakers specified a set of obligations, observed mainly in theory only, to each varna: the Brahman, to study and advise; the Kshatriya, to protect; the Vaishya, to cultivate; and the Sudra, to serve. An unofficial fifth class, the pancama, was created to include certain untouchables and tribal groups falling outside this system. The relationship of the caste system to the class system is complex; individual castes, of which there are dozens, have sought to raise their social rank by identifying with a particular varna, demanding the associated privileges of rank and honor.

Seaport city (pop. 1996 est.: 301,000), Bulgaria, on the Black Sea coast. Founded as Odessus by Milesian Greeks in the 6th cent. BC, it later was Thracian, Macedonian, and Roman. In AD 681 it became part of the first Bulgarian empire (c.679-1018) and was named Varna. It came under Ottoman domination in 1391. In 1444 it was the scene of a battle between Turkish and Hungarian armies in which Wladyslaw III, king of Poland and Hungary, was killed. Varna was ceded to Bulgaria by the 1878 Treaty of Berlin (see Congress of Berlin). It is an important administrative, economic, cultural, and resort center. Industries include exporting, ...

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