sibility as the act itself was very important. This was reflected by being placed at the top of a hierarchical class system, of four social classes. The class that you were in was determined by birth and here one would remain for the entirety of their life; Brahmins, Ksatriyas (warriors/leaders - maintained order in society), Vaisyas (generated wealth through trade and farming) and finally Sudras (servants - served all the other classes). These four social classes, of brahmanical society, fall again into two groups; Aryas and non-Aryas. The Aryas group consists of the top three classes of the hierarchical classes previously mentioned, they are referred to as twice-born (dvija). The male members of this group go through a form of initiation and go on to study the vedic tradition under the supervision of a Brahmin teacher. When they have completed their studies their duties consist of maintaning a sacrificial fire and performing rituals in the presence of the priest. The non-Aryas group consists of the lowest social group, the sudras. By accepting this brahmanical view of the world, one was accepting their authority. At the time of the renouncer tradition, many of the brahmins aimed at the heaven of the creator god Brahma, through means such as sacrifice, austerities, study of the vedic teachings and truthfulness, however, this orthodox practice of the brahmins was not carried out by all brahmins. At this time, corruption had formed within this religious movement. Some brahmins were reaping in the rewards of large and expensive bloody sacrifices, which were often paid by kings, the teaching had become distorted, too much emphasis was being placed on the sacrifice, rather than any type of symbolistic or esoteric knowledge of it (.iii.) When reflecting on the social position at this time, one will notice a disruption here also. Urbanisation was expanding as well as trade, roads were improving, and this enabled new ideas to ...
