| Traditionally, there were four main varnas, plus one group of outsiders. |
| Strictly speaking, class and caste are different social institutions, though castes are often assumed to fit into the four varnas. |
| Vedic civilization is based on four varnas, but there are people who do not fit within these four. |
| Hinduism recognises four varnas based on occupation and ancestry. |
| While the jati system shares many similarities with the varna system, the jatis are not clear subset of varnas. |
| In the primitive Hinduism came to constitute another class of people who do not have any position in one from these four varnas, and which consequently, was associated work more degrading. |
