Upaniṣads · Rudrākṣajābāla 1.9
॥
Devanāgarī
श्वेतास्तु ब्राह्मणा ज्ञेयाः क्षत्रिया रक्तवर्णकाः । पीतास्तु वैश्या विज्ञेयाः कृष्णाः शूद्रा उदाहृताः
Transliteración (IAST)
śvetāstu brāhmaṇā jñeyāḥ kṣatriyā raktavarṇakāḥ | pītāstu vaiśyā vijñeyāḥ kṛṣṇāḥ śūdrā udāhṛtāḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
श्वेताः तु ब्राह्मणाः ज्ञेयाःśvetāḥ tu brāhmaṇāḥ jñeyāḥwhite are to be known as brāhmaṇas
क्षत्रियाः रक्त-वर्णकाःkṣatriyāḥ rakta-varṇakāḥkṣatriyas are of red color
पीताः तु वैश्याः विज्ञेयाःpītāḥ tu vaiśyāḥ vijñeyāḥyellow are to be known as vaiśyas
कृष्णाः शूद्राः उदाहृताःkṛṣṇāḥ śūdrāḥ udāhṛtāḥblack are declared śūdras
Traducción
White are to be known as brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas are of red color; yellow are to be known as vaiśyas, black are declared śūdras.
Versión
7451257fb4fb · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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The mapping by color is set out, and it repeats exactly the most ancient scheme of the varṇas: white, red, yellow, black. This scheme is older than the upaniṣads and rests on a simple correspondence that seemed obvious in antiquity: white is pure and intellectual, red is active and martial, yellow is mercantile, black is menial. It is worth saying without evasion what stands behind this correspondence, for it is not innocent. Color here is not only the color of a thing; the same word varṇa is applied to skin as well, and the whole scheme reads easily as a justification of the light standing above the dark.
We shall not read this line as a teaching about people, and not because it is unpleasant, but because there is no basis for it. Here the speech is literally about seeds: rudrākṣas really do come in different shades, and dividing them by color is as legitimate as dividing them by size. But the next line will draw a conclusion about people from this division, and there more will need to be said.
The Vaiṣṇava side has its own, quite opposite, word about color, and it is fitting to cite it here. Its Lord is called Kṛṣṇa, that is, literally "black"; and the same word that in this line denotes the lowest rank is, for it, the name of the highest. This coincidence is worth holding on to. Any scheme that assigns worth by color breaks against a simple fact: the One who is worshiped does not himself fit its best rank.