History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c19.336

v2.c19.336

*Rathakāra*. Vide above pp. 43, 45 for Vedic references. According to Baud. gṛ. II. 5. 6 and Bhāradvāja gṛ. (I) his *upanayana* was to be performed in the rainy season. It appears he lost his status gradually. In the Baud. Dh. S. (I. 9. 6) he is the offspring of the marriage of a vaiśya male with a śūdra female. According to Yāj. I. 95 he is an anuloma doubly mixed as he is the offspring of a māhiṣya male from a karaṇa female and according to a prose passage of Śaṅkha quoted by the Mit. the rathakāra is entitled to have *upanayana* performed, to offer sacrifices and gifts and makes his living by learning the art of taming horses, of making chariots and building houses. According to Uśanas (5-6) and Vaik. (X. 13) he is the offspring of a clandestine union between a kṣatriya male and a brāhmaṇa woman and he is to behave like a śūdra, he is not a twice-born (dvija) and cannot repeat Vedic mantras and makes his living by tending and driving horses and carts.