Kayasth

Kayasthas are of three kinds:

• (1) Chitragupta Kayasthas (Brahma Kayashta),
• (2) Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (Rajanya Kshatriya Kayasthas- from the Haiyaya family) and
• (3) Kayasthas of the mixed blood.

Kāyastha or Kayasth (Template:Lang-hi) is an 'upper'(General) caste of India. They are said (as per Vedas and Puranas) to have a dual-caste status (ref. Vedic origin). They are mainly spread across the North India and are considered Brahmins in the upper Gangetic region and Kshatriya in the rest.(ref. shown below):

• As per the court they are Kshatriya.
• Vedah.net, which presents a list of the main sub-divisions of Brahmins, lists the Kayasthas as one of the 31 main sub-divisions of Brahmins.
• Kamat.com puts forward a comprehensive list of more than 50 Brahmin Communities in India, the Kayasthas are also listed.
• The Sanskrit dictionary at Hindunet.org defines ‘Kayastha’ as follows:

- ka_yastha, ka_yata a man belonging to the writer-caste; a tribe of bra_hman.as whose employment is writing (Ka.)(Ka.lex.)

• Kayasthas in recent times are the giver of the Hare Krishna Movement-ISKCON(Swami Prabhupada), Transcendental Meditation(Maharshi Mahesh Yogi), Internal yoga(Sri Aurobindo), Kriya Yoga(Paramahansa Yogananda of ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ fame) and Vedanta(Swami Vivekananda) to the western world.

Categories: KAS-KEN