Mahānirvāṇa Tantra 8.5

Translation

In the Kṛta age and the rest; but in the Kali age five classes are declared: brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, and the sāmānya.

Word by word

kṛta

in the Kṛta age

ādau

and the rest

kali

in the Kali

kālē

age

tu

but

varṇāḥ

classes

pañca

five

prakīrttitāḥ

are declared

brāhmaṇaḥ

brāhmaṇa

kṣatriyō

(kṣatriyaḥ) kṣatriya

vaiśyaḥ

vaiśya

śūdraḥ

śūdra

sāmānya

(sāmānyaḥ) the common class

ēva

indeed

ca

and

Meaning

Here the Tantra makes its own move. In the Kali age it counts five classes, not four: to the four of the Veda it adds the "sāmānya", the "common" or "general" class. The commentary explains the sāmānya as the varṇasaṅkara, those born of mixed classes, whom the older law placed outside the fourfold order or at its margins. The text gives them a name and a place within the order, and in the verses that follow it gives all five the same access to the two stages of life and to the Śaiva rites. That is the thread of the chapter: the old order is kept in outline, but its doors are opened. The verse is translated as the Tantra states it; it describes the social world of its time and its own reform of that world. What the Tantra prescribes here is its own teaching, given as the text presents it; taking up any practice is a matter for one's tradition and teacher.