with the hostility towards them than with their actual subordination. The
Dasyus are noted for their variant religious beliefs and customs, which the
aryas saw as the negation of their own and which appear to have been the
chief distinguishing characteristic. The assimilation of these groups was
facilitated by their being given subordinate status.
CHATUR-VARNA SYSTEM
Varna was to become a system of putting together the structure of the
society and the colour symbolism was retained. The four varnas were later
associated with the colours white, yellow, red and black. With the
sharpening of stratification and the beginnings of professional
specialisation, the constituents of the aryas were more clearly demarcated
into brahmanas, kshatriya and vaishya, with the sudras incorporating an
amorphous group of excluded clans and low status professions. The
former described as dvija or twice born (the second birth being initiation)
in later texts deepens the demarcation and underlines the connection
between initiation and lineage customs.