Varna system during the Vedic period was based on the principles of labour and acts. It was not related to birth. Anyone could be a Brahmin, a Kshatriya, a Vaishya or a Shudra. The varna system was associated with a person’s profession and not to the birth in a particular class or family. As per his/her need, any person could change his profession and accordingly his varna or class would change. There was no restriction on eating or food habits or marital relations between different classes or vamas and untouchability was not prevalent then. At a place in Rigveda, one states that, “I am the creator of mantras, my father is a vaidya and my mother is a housewife who grinds grains with the help of flourmill.” It is evidently clear from this that the Vedic period varna system was based on profession and not on birth.
