s. first reduced to text in the form of the Laws of Manu and the Yoga Sutras, incorporated in the Bhagavad-Gita, which is a part of the Mahabharata (Ellwood 77).
Religious and social beliefs intersect in Hinduism. In Vedic belief, there are four stations of life, called varnas, which correspond to the group structure of Hindu society. This hierarchy of varnas is described by Kinsley:
(1) the Brahmins, who are described as priests and scholars; (2) the Kshatrias, who are said to be warriors and rulers; (3) the Vaishyas, who pursue commerce and trades; and (4) the Shudras, who are described as serfs whose duty it is to serve and support the three higher groups (Kinsley 153).
The first group is associated with wisdom and social ideology, or the priestly class, though not all Brahmins are priests. The second group protects
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