Kshatriya
Kshatriya, “the one who shields from harm”
Grammar: masculine noun, from kshatra (rule, the power to protect): “one of the ruling order”.
Meaning: the second of the four varṇas, whose dharma is to protect the people, rule and fight for dharma.
In the scriptures: the Bhāgavata Purāṇa tells the birth of the kshatriya from the Virāṭ Purusha and teaches his dharma.
Born from the arms. Śuka tells Parīkshit that in the Virāṭ form of Bhagavān Vishṇu the brāhmaṇa is his face, the kshatriya his arms, the vaiśya his thighs and the śūdras his feet (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 2, Chapter 1). Maitreya Maharshi tells Vidura that from the arms of the Virāṭ Purusha came the ruling function and the kshatriya who follows it; born as a portion of that Purusha, the kshatriya protects the people of the varṇas from thieves and other troubles. These varṇas, born from Śrī Hari with their functions, worship Śrī Hari, their guru, by performing their own dharma with śraddhā, and so gain purity of the inner being (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 6). Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Uddhava that from the mouth, arms, thighs and feet of the Virāṭ Purusha appeared, in order, the brāhmaṇas, kshatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras, and that their śīla (conduct, nature) is the mark of their varṇa (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 11, Chapter 17).
His dharma and livelihood. Nārada Maharshi teaches Yudhishṭhira the sanātana dharma he heard from Nārāyaṇa. Of the six karmas of the brāhmaṇa, pratigraha (receiving gifts) is not fitting for a kshatriya. “The kshatriya, who protects the people, should take tax from others, leaving out the knowers of the Veda. That alone is the livelihood of the kshatriya.” One of a lower level should not take up the livelihood of a higher except in distress, and in distress all except the kshatriya may take up every kind of occupation. Neither the knower of the Veda nor the kshatriya should ever live by śvavṛtti, serving a low person, for all the Vedas are in the brāhmaṇa and the king is the svarūpa of all the devatās.
The marks of the kshatriya are eagerness in battle, power, courage, dāna, victory over the mind, forbearance, bhakti towards the brāhmaṇas who know the Veda, and favouring and protecting the people. “If the marks of one varṇa are seen in a person who belongs to another varṇa, that person’s varṇa should be determined by those marks alone” (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 7, Chapter 11).
Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Nanda, in Vraja: “For the brāhmaṇa the Veda, for the kshatriya the protection of the earth, for the vaiśya vārtā, for the śūdra serving the others: these are the proper livelihoods” (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 24). And he tells Uddhava that in distress the kshatriya should live by the vaiśya’s livelihood, or by hunting, or by teaching like a brāhmaṇa, but should never serve the base; once the distress has passed, one should not live by a blameworthy livelihood (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 11, Chapter 17).
Related terms: Varṇa · Brāhmaṇa · Vaiśya · Śūdra · Rājadharma · Virāṭ Purusha
Sources
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 2, Chapter 1; Skandha 3, Chapter 6; Skandha 7, Chapter 11; Skandha 10, Chapter 24; Skandha 11, Chapter 17