In present times, Kayastha caste is considered very educated and cultured and holds its own place in the Hindu society. The story of the origin of Kayastha caste is interesting. The four varnas were supposed to have originated from the four parts of Brahma’s body, from top to bottom. His duties were also laid down accordingly.
Dev Chitragupta – Founder of Kayastha
The origin of Kayastha, different from all of these, is believed to be from the whole body, not from a particular part of Brahma’s body. Chitragupta Maharaj was born from the body of the meditative Brahma. Being situated in the body of Brahma, he was called as Kayastha.
According to mythology, He became the assistant of Yamraj or Dharmaraj and since then, till date, has been keeping accurate, up-to-date accounts of every good and bad deeds of every living being, with complete loyalty and impartiality, on the basis of which Dharmaraj decides that living being is freed or rebirth-when, where, how, how much etc.
Family tree of Chitragupta
According to the Padma Purana, Chitragupta, the progenitor of the Kayasthas, had two wives and had twelve sons. His first marriage was with Sudakshina or Nandini, the daughter of Shraddhadev, the son of Surya. From her, he had four sons—Bhanu (Srivastava), Vibhanu (Surajdhwaj), Vishvabhanu (Balmiki) and Viryabhanu (Asthana).
The second wife was Shobhavati or Airavati,
From these progeny, again, many branches-sub-branches came out, which kept spreading in different regions. Chitragupta’s sons were married to twelve daughters of Nagraj Vasuki. Hence, Kayasthas are considered as Nagvanshi from Nanihal’s side.
Kayastha were mix of Rajput & Brahmins
In knowledge meditation, study, yoga, ayurveda, this people were equal to Brahmins. They were the priest of Kalam-Davat. They made writing and recording there means of livelihood. Kshatra-dharma was also performed. From emperors to ministers, they also performed the responsibility of generals efficiently. They have ruled half of India in the form of different dynasties. Presented an example of bravery and sacrifice in the form of Shivaji’s generals. Jumped in the stream of revolution, swing on the gallows, gave the slogan of Delhi Chalo. They were also successful in various crafts, industries, business and continued to serve the society in every way till now.
Many branches of Kayasthas have been living in North, East, Central and West India. In the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, etc, there is an excess of Chitragupta-dynasty Kayasthas. In Bengal, Kayasthas, Vaidyas etc. have been counted among the elite or Bhadralok. Chandraseni Prabhu Kayasthas are found in Maharashtra and near it.
Achievements
Kayastha caste is considered to be well-educated and intellectual and is mainly employed. This caste has produced many great personalities in all walks of life. Some of them may be remembered –
Kashmir was ruled by the rare Bardhan Kayastha dynasty. Jaipal dynasty from Kabul to Punjab, Ballabhi dynasty in Gujarat, Chalukya dynasty in south, Devpal Gaur dynasty in north, Satavahana and Parihar dynasty in central India belonged to Kayasthas.
Country’s first President Dr. Rajendra Prasad, first Finance Minister and first Indian Governor of Reserve Bank of India CD Deshmukh, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Jai Prakash Narayan, Dr. Sachchidanand Sinha etc. are well known in the field of politics.
Murabaji Deshpande and Baji Prabhu Deshpande died as generals of Shivaji. Khudiram Bose, Vipin Chandra Pal, Vala Hardayal, Subhash Chandra Bose, Rasbihari Bose, Batukeshwar Dutt, Yatin Das, Barish Ghosh etc. fought against the British rule in their own ways.
Shankar Abaji Bhishe, Jagdish Chandra Basu, Shantiswaroop Bhatnagar, Meghnath Saha, Satyendra Nath Bose etc. became famous scientists and researchers. Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, Paramahansa Yogananda, Mahesh Yogi, Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabhupada etc spread the awareness of Bhakti and Yoga.
Legends
Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, Mahadevi Verma, Bhagwaticharan Verma, Munshi Premchand, Nirmal Verma, Ram Kumar Verma, Dharamveer Bharti, Kamleshwar, Raghubir Sahay, Sarveshwardayal Saxena, K.P.Saxena, Kunwar Bechain, Raghupati Sahay Firak, Girija Kumar Mathur, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Vrindavan Lal Verma, Vimal Mitra, Premendra Mitra, Jivanand Das, Buddhadev Vasu, Amitabh Ghosh, Nirad Chowdhary etc. have made unforgettable contribution in literature and journalism.
Mukesh, Jaidev, Sonu Nigam, Chitragupt, Manna Dey, Anil Vishwas, Salil Chowdhary, Roshan, Aadesh Srivastava, Anand-Milind etc. have made remarkable contribution in the field of music. Nandlal Bose, Jamini Rai, Jatin Das are notable in the field of painting.
In the field of acting and directing, Moti Lal, Nutan, Tanuja, Kajal, Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, Sonakshi Sinha, Shriya Sharan, Sharat Saxena, Madhur Jaffrey, Nandita Das, Shekhar Suman, Raju Srivastava, Shambhu Mitra, Gautam Ghosh , Utpal Dutt, Suchitra Sen, Riya Sen, Raima Sen, Sushmita Sen, Vipasha Vasu, Rahul Bose, Hrithik Roshan, Koyna Mitra, Shivendra Sinha, Virendra Saxena etc.’s contribution is important. Dhyan Chand was a hockey wizard. His sons Ashok Kumar and Raj Kumar were also famous hockey players. Suvrat Guha was a good spin bowler.
This list can be very long if continued.
Kayasthas are foodies
Kayasthas are all-rounders, they have different specialties. Kayastha people have been fond of food and drink from the beginning. Whereas consumption of alcohol by Kayasthas is also very famous. Due to this one rhyme is often said about them – ” Writing and reading like is on one side butcif you don’t drink alcoholc then how can you be a Kayastha !?
The Kayasthas got the qualities of all the castes and the duties of all the castes were properly performed by them, according to time.