The literal meaning of the term `varna` is colour. Originally it has been used to refer the distinction between arya and dasa. Professor ghurya writes, "in the rigveda the word Varna is never applied to any one of these classes. It is only the arya Varna or the aryan people that is contrasted with the dasa varna. The satapatha brahmana on the other hand describes the four classes as the four varnas. The colour connotation of the word was so strong that later on when the classes came to be regularly described as varnas four different colours were supposed to be distinguished."

The Hindu society has developed two coordinated systems of social organization. On the one side the whole human life is divided into four stages namely ashrams and on the other side the society is divided into four strata namely varnas. Both the systems are concerned with the organization and management of the individual as well as society. In varna-system the role and status of an individual has been determined.

Prof. Ghurya states later on that the rigvedic distinction between arya and dasa gave place to the distinction between arya and shudra. In Rigveda there is a division of society into three orders namely-Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya. The Brahmin and Kshatriya broadly represented the group of common people. It is only in the later hymn namely purushasukta, that a reference has been made regarding the four orders of society.