Shree Chitra Guptay Namah:
WHO are Kayasthas and what is their origin? Just as the Kshatriyas worship their arms and weapons on the occasion of Dasehra and the Vaishyas take out their bahis (cash-books) and khatas (ledgers) and venerate them on Divali, the Kayasthas, too, reverently place a pen and an ink-pot before their founder and patron deity Chitragupta on dooj (the 2nd day in the phase of the waxing moon), after Divali. They invoke his blessings to give them strength through the pen, considered mightier than the sword.
It is said that Brahma, the Creator, having established the four varnas — Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra — ordained Dharamraj ( also called Yamraj, the god of death) to keep record of the deeds — good and evil — of all life-forms born and yet to be born on the earth, in the heavens above and in the lands below. Dharamraj, however, complained, "O Lord, how can I alone keep record of the deeds of the beings born into 84 lakh yonis (life-forms) in the three worlds?"
Brahma then closed his eyes, meditated for a while and lo and behold! there appeared a radiant figure with a quill-pen in one hand and an ink-pot in another. Brahma named him Chittagupta for he was conceived in his cognitive-self (chitta) and he was lying in Him, dormant and secret (gupta). He was born of Brahma's body (kaya) and so the Lord decreed that his progenies be called Kayasthas. He was assigned to work as a minister, to write and record for Dharamraj. Thus, the fifth varna, the Kayastha, came into existence.
Sanskrit texts of yore tell us that Chittagupta married Irawati and Nandini. The 12 Kayastha sub-castes are traced to his 12 sons, eight by Irawati and four by Nandini. Mathurs, Gaurs, Bhatnagars, Saxenas, Ambhasths, Nigams, Karns and Kulshreshths became the descendants of the eight sons by Irawati, whereas Srivastavas, Suryadhwajs, Asthanas and Valmiks became the descendants of the four sons by Nandini. As time passed, the name Chittagupta got transformed into Chitragupta.
Some historians hold the view that during the reign of the Mughals, a number of Hindus who were were educated and endowed with sharp intellect attained administrative positions through rapid adaptation to the Persian language and culture of India's new rulers. These influential Hindus got together and formed a new caste known as Kayastha.
Ancient Sanskrit texts dating back to the pre-Mughal period, though, have references to Kayasthas and Chitragupta. The Smriti of Yajnavalkya describes the Kayasthas as writers, scribes and village accountants. The Vishnu and Parashara Smritis have also similar references to them.
Dabulls .. thanks for the insight into the Brahmin & Kayasth communities.
Historical origin of Kayasthas:
I think there is a connection between:
- the mythological story about Parushram killing all the Kshatriays,
- and the conversion of Ksatriyas into castes like Kayasthas and even Khatris. What probably happened was that as Brahmins became more and more ambitious to grab social power, they devised a plot to remove the Kshatriya caste altogether, and so, they sought refuge in new emerging classes/ castes. The Brahmins did it again, about 1000 years ago in Bengal, when they rendered every other caste in Bengal, except the Brahmins (even some Brahmin castes) into the Sudra category. That includes Bengali Kayasthas, Kshatriyas and Vaisyas. The Kayasthas are the highest in the non-Brahmin caste in Bengal, almost at par with Brahmin, and there traditionally are even inter-marriages between some sections of Brahmins and Kayasthas.
- You will probably be surprised that there are no original Kshatriyas left today, in their original form. The Rajputs are a much later migration from central Asia, and were probably merged into the erstwhile Kshatriya caste or were specially appointed so, after the Brahmins, with their social power, 'annihilated' the origtinal Kshatriyas.
Also, the Ambastha Kayasthas of Northern and Central Bihar have descended from King Ambhi (who ruled large parts of Punjab, Kashmir, etc.) who joined hands with Alexander the Great.
Srivastavas are the descendants of King Lalityaditya Muktipada of Kashmir (a Brahmin King who married his daughter to a Kayastha, who in any case were originally Brahmins) whose kingdom extended from Turkistan in the West to Tibet in the east and Orissa in the south. Then followed a Kayastha dynasty in Kashmir. The name Srivastava is supposed to refer to Srinagar.
