With reference to the given heads the social changes evident in the later Vedic **** are described as under:**
(a) Position of **: The honor or respect that the of the Rig Vedic age had enjoyed had been lessened towards the later Vedic age. Although they continued to be associated with all religious rites, the rules of marriage underment a change. If monogamy was the ideal, polygamy was practiced, at least in higher sections of society. Widow-marriage, which was fairly common in the Rig Vedic age, was now regarded with disfavor. But the education which some ** received, was of high order. The discourses of **** philosophers are preserved in the
(b) Caste System: The Brahmins and Kshatriyas enjoyed powers and privileges denied to the Vaisyas and the By this time, besides the four major Varnas, many other caste groups had come into being like — the merchants, the chariot-makers, the smiths, the carpenters, the tanners, the fishermen etc. Membership of a caste had become hereditary’ and there was also a fixation of occupation on the basis of one’* caste-grouping. The so-called untouchables were forced to live in separate settlements outside the village or the town boundaries.
