varna and jati

[Rolf Koch]

Regarding the term jAti I came across the following TRSTubh stanza
in the KuNAlAvadAna from the DivyAvadAna (v.l. = KalpanAmaNDItikA of
KumAralAta, probably the
early source for the DivyAvadAna):
jAtiM bhavAn pazyati zAkya-bhikSuSv-
antar-gatAMs-teSu guNAn-na ceti (v.l. na vetti : na veti) /
ato bhavAn jAtimad-AvalepAd-
AtmAnam-anyAMz-ca hinasti mohAt  //3//
AvAha-kAle'tha vivAha-kAle
jAteH parIkSA na tu dharma-kAle /
dharma-kriyAyA hi guNA nimittA
guNAz(v.l. guNaiz)-ca jAtiM na vicArayanti //4//

...Not in regards to the guNa-related Dharma it is necessary to consider the
jAti,
but in case of any marriage the jAti has to be taken into consideration.

roheko

Richard Barz wrote:

> A student who is writing a thesis in political science in international
> relations would like to translate the terms jati and varna into English.
> She would like to know the currently accepted academic translations for
> these terms.
>
> She would also like to know if there is any academic precedent for
> referring to scheduled tribes as 'dalit'.
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Richard Barz
> ANU
> Canberra
> richard.barz at anu.edu.au