Caste and Race in India c7.109

c7.109

The Śūdra, thus had no civil or religious rights. Nevertheless, there are sentiments of compassion about him expressed here and there. A master is exhorted to support his Śūdra servant when he is unable to work,¹¹ and to offer funeral oblation for him in case he dies childless.¹² Rarely, as in one case given by Āpastamba,¹³ he is allowed to cook food, even though meant for a religious function, under the supervision of members of the other three classes. This extraordinary tolerance towards the Śūdra might have been dictated by the peculiar conditions prevailing in the south during the early migration of the Indo-Aryans.