Vedas to Vision Boards and Beyond: The Corporate Caste System
This insightful article, coauthored by Dr. Srabani Basu and Aveek Majumdar, reimagines the ancient Purusha Sukta through the lens of modern corporate hierarchy, drawing parallels between Vedas and contemporary organisational roles.
When the ancient seers composed the Purusha Sukta, they arguably, did not imagine their cosmic anatomy lesson would echo through glass-walled conference rooms and Monday morning stand-ups. In that famous hymn, society was formed from the divine body of Purusha: the Brahmins emerged from the mouth (knowledge and speech), Kshatriyas from the arms (power and protection), Vaishyas from the thighs (commerce and sustenance), and Shudras from the feet (service and labor).
brā̠hma̠ṇō̎-‘sya̠ mukha̍māsīt । bā̠hū rā̍ja̠nya̍ḥ kṛ̠taḥ ।
ū̠rū tada̍sya̠ yadvaiśya̍ḥ । pa̠dbhyāgṃ śū̠drō a̍jāyataḥ ॥
Thousands of years later, the modern corporate organogram appears to have taken meticulous notes.
In ancient society, Brahmins were the interpreters of knowledge and custodians of dharma. In today’s corporate world, they manifest as the C-suite executives, (CEOs, CFOs, CTOs, and their ilk.) These corporate Brahmins do not chant mantras, but they do speak the sacred language of KPIs, vision statements, and quarterly projections.
Their influence is pervasive but indirect. They rarely interact with the rank and file, appearing only during town halls or in motivational emails signed with digital signatures. Strategy flows from them as gospel, often with little debate, and their wisdom is disseminated through PowerPoint rather than palm leaves.
Their allegiance lies with ideas and shareholders, and much like their ancient counterparts, their proximity to the divine (read: board of directors) insulates them from the mundane. Lunch breaks are flexible, accountability is collective, and errors are “learning opportunities.”
The Kshatriyas were warriors and rulers, entrusted with upholding law and order. In the office ecosystem, they are reborn as Vice Presidents, Directors, and Senior Managers, the mighty middle management.
These are the executors of vision. They take broad strategic mandates and translate them into spreadsheets, timelines, and performance improvement plans. Their battles are fought in the trenches of deadlines, escalations, and quarterly reviews.
Like ancient warriors, they wear armour in the form of business suits and Bluetooth headsets. Their weapons? Calendar invites, dashboards, and the occasional sternly worded email. Their code is policy, and their creed is deliverables. They command respect, but often not affection.
Their allegiance is to structure and chain of command. As with the Kshatriyas of old, they are expected to defend the kingdom (brand) and uphold order (SOPs), sometimes at the cost of their own peace.
In the Vedic world, Vaishyas sustained the economy. Today, they are your Sales Teams, Product Managers, Business Analysts, and Marketing Professionals.
They are the dealmakers and number chasers. Their days revolve around funnels, forecasts, and ROI. Just as ancient Vaishyas kept the wheels of commerce turning, their corporate counterparts keep the revenue graphs climbing.
These roles demand versatility: the empathy to pitch, the analytics to report, and the resilience to hear “no” a hundred times before closing one deal. They are respected when targets are met and expendable when they’re not.
Have you even spared a thought on their allegiance? Well, it is invariably to performance! Bonus structures and incentive programs are the modern yajnas (sacrifices) that keep them devoted.
The Shudras in the ancient hierarchy were tasked with service and labor. In the workplace, they are the interns, junior developers, customer support staff, data entry operators, and countless others who do the foundational work.
They are everywhere, yet unseen. While visions are announced on stage, it is these employees who upload the PowerPoint, coordinate the logistics, and actually press “Send.” Their names rarely make the credits, but without them, the machinery grinds to a halt.
They are often told they are “valued” and that there are “growth opportunities” provided they stay humble, work weekends, and never question feedback from someone three levels above.
Their allegiance is to survival. Promotions are few, and recognition is often a pizza party or a template-filled certificate.
Beyond the organogram exists a class not even acknowledged: the contractual workers, cleaning staff, cafeteria workers, and delivery partners. If the corporate Shudras are overlooked, these individuals are nearly invisible.
They wear no ID cards, appear in no org chart, and yet are essential. Their exclusion is often masked as “outsourcing” or “vendor services.” They attend no team meetings, receive no feedback forms, and are not invited to the annual retreat — though they may serve the food at it.
To whom or what are their allegiance to? None. It is purely transactional. And yet, their presence is a reminder that hierarchies, no matter how digitized, still rely on the age-old dynamics of seen and unseen labor.
Just as ancient systems justified caste through divinely ordained duty (svadharma), the corporate world justifies its structure through “roles and responsibilities.” Every employee knows their place. Questioning authority is framed as “not being a team player.” Asking “why” too often can stall your progress more effectively than any formal reprimand.
The handbooks speak of agility and flat structures, but the lived experience resembles a temple with restricted access areas. You may meditate at your desk, but only a few get to ring the bell.
Even rebellion is choreographed. Casual Fridays, employee engagement surveys, and mental health webinars offer ritualized catharsis, just enough to keep the structure intact.
In traditional Hindu cosmology, liberation from the cycle of rebirth (moksha) is the ultimate goal. In corporate life, it is the ever-elusive promotion or, better yet, a lateral move to a better-paying firm.
But like karmic debt, your past appraisals follow you. One bad year can delay your salvation indefinitely. Every new title is a rebirth with its own challenges: a few more emails, a little less sleep, and the creeping realization that the higher you go, the more political the oxygen gets.
So, the next time someone says, “That’s above my paygrade,” recognize it for what it is: a modern invocation of varna dharma.
The organogram may be drawn with design software now, but its essence hasn’t changed. It still tells us who may speak, who must listen, who gets the credit, and who brings the coffee.
Whether you are a Brahmin of branding or a Shudra of spreadsheets, it helps to know: the system is ancient, the suits are modern, and the hymns are now hashtags.
And just maybe, by recognizing the sacred in the absurd, we might find ways to change the song.
Now the question is how can we humanise the corporate ‘Varna’ system?
Let’s face it that we cannot dismantle hierarchy. The so-called corporate pyramid is too well-aligned to be discarded. However, can we re-imagine it? It turns out, some Indian enterprises are already sneaking in dharma into the deck. While most corporates chant KPIs or OKRs, a few are meditating on karma.
In the heart of our financial capital Mumbai, the salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group has been quietly rewriting the scriptures. Here children of workmen have become general managers, not through divine intervention, but through structured upskilling, career mobility, and equal opportunities being created for employees of the organization.
Another bright example is Amul, where milkmen are shareholders, and boardroom decisions are made by those who once sold milk in steel containers. From churning butter to churning boardroom strategy, Amul has actually demonstrated that Vaishyas can rise from dairy cans to decision-making.
Even Mahindra group talk of “Rise” is not just as a marketing slogan, but as a cultural awakening where the truck driver and the team lead might attend the same yoga workshop, albeit with different lumbar issues.
So the larger question is how do we humanize hierarchy without burning the org chart?
Behold, some sacred sutras that bring spiritual clarity to the soul of the Corporate Varna System:
- Reimagine Hierarchies as Roles, Not Ranks
If the CEO is the brain, and the support staff the feet, then walking requires coordination not condescension. Job titles may climb, but spiritual equality should stay horizontal. It’s time we treated interns like karmic equals, not just Excel peasants. - Infuse Dharma into Decision-Making
What if the next boardroom pitch came with a moral compass? Decisions driven not just by EBITA but by ethics? Wipro’s code of values and Infosys’ cultural anchors are more than decor. They’re dharma in motion. - Elevate the Invisible
Let’s rotate jobs. Let Shudras of spreadsheets try a sales pitch. Let the Vaishyas shadow an HR onboarding. Let career mobility be a pilgrimage, not a caste ladder. Job rotation is not just a management fad. It’s a workplace reincarnation. Here again we can learn from the Tata group. The group believes in job rotation with purpose, because why limit your karma to one corner cubicle? Whether you’re writing codes at TCS or brewing innovation at Tata Consumer, you are part of a grand cycle of rebirths, well the corporate ones of course! - Make Spirituality at Work Practical
Skip the motivational guru. Start with mindfulness breaks, purpose-driven leadership, and the occasional check-in that isn’t tied to performance metrics.
Not every chant needs certification. Sometimes, it’s enough to ask, “How are you today, really?
- Create Sacred (and Safe) Spaces for Dissent
Every temple has a bell. Let workplaces have spaces to speak truth to power, without fear of rebirth as “non-performer.” In a country where 90-hour workweeks are marketed as a noble pursuit, and burnout is worn like a badge of failure, the real wellness benefit isn’t another pizza party or beanbag in the breakout zone- it is about psychological safety. We don’t need more samosas on Fridays. We need room to say, “This deadline is unrealistic,” or “Maybe we don’t need a 7 a.m. town hall on a Monday.” Because no amount of office swag can compensate for a culture where speaking up feels riskier than silence. And no one achieves workplace nirvana with a stuffed mouth and a stifled voice! - Redefine Moksha
Who said liberation only comes with the CXO tag? Sometimes, true corporate moksha arrives disguised as a sabbatical, a lateral move, or even a humble switch to a non-profit. At Amul, some co-operative members have evolved from milk procurement to mentoring, from selling to serving- not to chase titles, but to chase meaning. Employees at TCS, for instance, have stepped away from billable hours to build “Tech for India” platforms or drive “Literacy as a Service” initiatives in rural schools. One moment you’re optimizing cloud architecture, the next you’re helping a village go paperless and somehow both still show up on your OKRs.
Hierarchy isn’t the problem. Dehumanization is. So, whether you’re a Brahmin of branding or a Shudra of number crunching in Excel, know this: You are not your paygrade. You are your grace. The system may still be running on performance appraisals, and the corporate vision boards may glow with metrics, but somewhere between the spreadsheets and the soul-searching, Dharma is quietly pinging, waiting for someone to click ‘Accept.’
Disclaimer: This piece uses satire to draw parallels between ancient social structures and modern corporate hierarchies. It does not seek to diminish the serious historical and social realities of caste, but rather to highlight how power structures continue to reinvent themselves across time and sectors.
Authors
Dr. Srabani Basu
Dr. Srabani Basu, an interdisciplinary scholar and corporate trainer with 30 years of experience, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Literature, and Languages, SRM University AP. With a PhD in English, specializing in William Blake, and an MS in Psychoanalysis, her research bridges literature, psychoanalysis, and mythology. Known for her expertise in storytelling, she combines ancient myths with management principles in her training. A certified NLP practitioner and career coach, she has trained professionals across industries, inspiring creativity and growth. Her diverse research interests include Behavior Analytics, Metaphor Therapy, and the Science behind Mythology, reflecting her passion for narrative. She strongly believes that, where ancient stories meet modern minds, transformation begins.
Aveek Majumdar
Aveek Majumdar is a Professor of Practice in Marketing & Strategy with nearly 20 years of global experience across Nielsen, Unilever, Kantar, BlackBerry, and SEEK Australia. He has worked in Australia, Southeast Asia, India, and the MENA region. His area of work is the intersection of behavioral science, AI, and human-centered design and strategic marketing. He is passionate about solving real-world problems and shaping future leaders. Aveek now bridges industry insight with academic rigour to develop innovation-driven, industry-ready talent for tomorrow’s business challenges.