Caste (Varna/Jati)
Varna names the classical Hindu textual framework describing a fourfold theoretical division of social roles (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras) tied to dharma. Jati names the thousands of specific, regionally rooted, hereditary social communities that developed historically into the lived caste system structuring marriage, occupation, and social status across South Asian society. Scholars distinguish the two deliberately, since how closely jati's often rigid hierarchy reflects varna's original textual content remains a live historical question.