Proud to be a Kayasth

When they ask me what caste or Indian community I belong to, I tell them I am a kayasth. Upon hearing this people usually then ask what is a kayasth. This question has always left me stumped. Truth be told i was not sure what being a kayasth meant myself. So then i started digging deeper, doing research. my latest findings are from Wikipedia and are shown below. I was very interested and intrigued by what they had to say about kayasths.

The funny thing is that even though I was not clear what being a kayasth meant, I was always proud to be one. I even bugged my parents and other kayasth family friends to found the Singapore Kayasth Gharana. It has been 6 years since we started that. Anyways enjoy reading more about kayasth according to wikipedia.

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Kāyastha or Kayasth is a Hindu high caste. Chitragupta decided that his lineage would wield the pen (quill) as its weapon rather than the sword. Legend says that he is employed by Yama, the God of Death, to maintain records about every human in Mrityulok or the mortal world. Hence Kāyastha became caste of scribes.

Modern day Kayasthas probably number around 5-7 million (50-70 lakhs). They are subdivided into 12 main sub-castes who are believed to have originated from the 12 sons of Maharaj Chitragupta and his two wives. These 12 subcastes are:

• Ambastha
• Asthana
• Balmik
• Bhatnagar
• Gour
• Karan
• Kulshreshta
• Mathur
• Nigam
• Saxena
• Srivastava
• Suryadhwaja

Some other castes have also came into picture but they all are derrived from these only.

In older days, Kayasthas practiced family exogamy and caste endogamy marriage even within sub-caste. However, things have changed and inter-caste marriages are very common now but still people prefer to marry in same caste. It is common though for a Kayastha to be dominant in the bringing up of children with Kayastha values even in case of intermarriage. All Kayastha belong to Kashyap gotra.

Kayasthas worship God Chitragupta and just after Dipaawali or Diwaali they celebrate DAWAAT-POOJA which is the worship of pen, paper and books. They devote this day to Chitragupta Ji.

Kayastha have made notable contributions to the Indian way of life. This caste is highly respected and wields much influence in India. There is also another theory according to which Kayasthas originated from the entire body of Lord Brahma that is why they are called Kayasthaa, Kaya means body and stha means encompassing the whole, unlike other Varnas who came from some specific parts of Lord Brahma.

Sanskrit etymology also defines Kayastha as one whose 'Kaya' (being or existence) is 'Sthir' (stable). Thus a person who is stable in all times and under all conditions by virtue of his/her birth in this community is a Kayastha.

History

It is important to note that like Jews in Midieval Europe, Kayasthas were valued in the second millennia by most kingdoms and princely states as desired citizens or immigrants within India. They were treated more as a race rather than a caste because they developed expertise in Persian (the state language in Islamic India), maintaining accounts, administration and taxation. This gave them an edge over 'Brahmans' (priestly caste) who traditionally had reserved the study of Sanskrit 'Shastras' (Hindu holy texts with knowledge about life and its conduct) to themselves. Kayasthas' primary attachment was to their knowledge and not to them being Hindus. They successfully transformed themselves as support pillars under Islamic rule and later on under the British. Their neutrality to religion, state and their own lifestyle was an asset which allowed them to succeed. A Kayastha officer under a Muslim ruler would be happy to pass on the knowledge of Persian to their offspring, dress like wealthy muslim elite, eat meat which was forbidden to most Hindus, enjoy the current pastimes of music and dance and even keep mistresses! Under the British, Kayasthas shifted loyalties from the Muslim rulers faster than the East India company could expect, they learnt English, the richer ones sent their young ones to England, they became civil servants, tax officers, junior administrators, teachers, legal helpers and barristers. They rose to the highest positions accessible to 'Natives' in British India. They again dressed like the British and were Macaulay's children in the true sense. The landed Kayasthas started addressing themselves as 'Raja' in late 19th Century, specially in the Bengal province. All this while Kayasthas were seen as being fair and a helpful connection between the ruler and the ruled. There were instances of resentment and jealousy among the other dominant castes in India, this motivated many Kayasthas not to use Kayastha surnames to prevent discrimination or vendettas.

Post independence Kayasthas rose to the highest positions including the first President of India, judges, top civil servants and even officers in the Indian armed forces. Marriage within the community was seen not only as maintaining the lineage but also to expand contacts with other influential Kayastha families. All of this does not mean that there were no lower class or poorer Kayasthas. Kayasthas also emigrated to the West in 1970s and 80s in numbers which were disproportionately high, most of them as knowledge workers in medicine, academia, engineering, computing etc. Their loyalty to their knowledge again helped them to seamlessly assimilate in the host cultures without losing their USPs.

A significant virtue in Kayastha community is the non-reliance on family wealth, this meant that a Kayastha teenager would be coaxed to study and find his/her own calling in whichever emerging career field rather than follow in their parents footsteps or rely on their parents money. This has helped Kayasthas adapt fast to the global economy.

Kayastha live mainly in northern and eastern part of India and in Nepal. There are Kayastha in Bihar - Sinha, Lala, Srivastava, Verma and others; in Bengal viz. Sur, Bose, Ghosh, Mitra, Dutta, Guha, in Orissa, viz. Patnaik, in Assam viz. Chaliha, Barua and in Maharashtra viz. Thackeray and Samarth. The script of the courts in the 19th and the early 20th century was Kaithi and not Devanagari. This script was primarily used by Kayastha.

In Tamil Nadu, the Kayasthas are Karuneegars, who are scribes. Their job is to maintain the village accounts. and to collect taxes. They also inhabit Kerala. The temple for Chitragupta is available in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu.

Kayastha have contributed to the Indian way of life in various fields. The first president of independent India Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Socialist revolutionary Jayaprakash Narayan the noted Hindi author Premchand, poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and the great scholar were from the Kayastha community. Lal Bahadur Shastri, the second prime minister of India, was also from this community. The prominent names from film and media world are the famous actors Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, Nandita Das, TV personality Shekhar Suman and singers Mukesh, Manna Dey and Sonu Nigam. Renowned scientists like Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar, Jagadis Chandra Bose, Satyendra Nath Bose, Ashesh Prosade Mitra, Mriganka Sur, Ashoka Jahnavi-Prasad, Sisir Kumar Mitra also come from this community as do painters like Nandlal Bose and Jatin Das. Other notable Kayasthas are Jyoti Basu, film stars Utpal Dutt, Nutan, Tanuja, Motilal, and literary figures like Ramkumar Verma, Mahadevi Varma, Vrindavanlal Verma, Bhagwati Charan Verma, Bimal Mitra, Premendra Mitra, Raghupati Sahai 'Firaq' Gorakhpuri and Dhirendra Verma, freedom fighters like Chittaranjan Das, Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi and revolutionaries like Bipin Chandra Pal, Subhash Chandra Bose, Swami Vivekananda, Khudiram Bose, Sri Aurobindo, Rashbehari Bose and Lala Hardayal and historians like Ashirwadi Lal Srivastava, Sir Jadunath Sarkar and Tara Chand. Famous con artist Natwarlal was also from this caste. Present day Don Babloo Srivastava also belong to this community.