Expert: Aupmanyav - 11/4/2009

Question
QUESTION: Can a brahmin girl marry a vaishya boy?I heard some where that brahmins and vaishya's are not different castes..is it true?????

ANSWER: Dear Shanthi,

Caste is loosing its stranglehold on hinduism. It is a sign of times. The Brahmins and Vaishyas could have the same 'gotra', indicating descent from the same mythical person. 'Varna' was not a hide-bound system in the golden age of hinduism. It was more of an indication of the inherent qualities of a person. There are innumerable examples in SrimadBhagawatham when people changed their 'varnas'. Sixty son's of Sage Vishwamitra became 'shudras'. It is now a question that whether a particular family is ready to accept inter-caste marriage or not. We are kashmiri brahmins but my daughter-in-law (selected by us) is a Punjabi khatri (Kshatriya). With best regards,

Yours sincerely,

Aupmanyav

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your answer.so now a marriage between a brahmin and vaishya is considered an intercaste marriage???

Answer
Dear Shanthi,

Yes, it would be termed as intercaste marriage. I am not from South India, but by the spelling of your name it seems that you are. An example would be a marriage between an Iyyengar and Shetty. With best regards,

Yours sincerely,

Aupmanyav