The varna system repeatedly collapsed into Brahmin-Kshatriya annihilation conflicts

Evidence

Chaturvarnya is not new. It is as old as the Vedas. That is one of the reasons why we are asked by the Arya Samajists to consider its claims. Judging from the past, as a system of social organisation it has been tried, and it has failed. How many times have the Brahmins annihilated the seed of the Kshatriyas! How many times have the Kshatriyas annihilated the Brahmins! The Mahabharata and the Puranas are full of incidents of the strife between the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas. They even quarrelled over such petty questions as to who should salute first, as to who should give way first, the Brahmins or the Kshatriyas, when the two met in the street. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 930

Categorization

• QUESTION: Ambedkar reads the epics as evidence the four-varna order never functioned — useful to verify against the source texts he cites.