History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c19.81

v2.c19.81

The rathakāra and niṣāda deserve a passing notice. The Tai. Br. I. 1. 4 after stating that the brāhmaṇa should consecrate sacred fires in the spring, the kṣatriya in summer, the vaiśya in autumn, ordains that the rathakāra should consecrate sacred fires in the rainy season. The question arises whether the rathakāra is a member of the three higher castes who has taken in economic distress to the profession of making chariots or is a person belonging to a caste other than the three higher varṇas. Jaimini in his Pūrvamīmāṁsā-sūtra (VI. 1. 44–50) discusses this question and establishes¹¹¹ that the rathakāra is a member of a caste other than the three higher varṇas, that he has on account of the express words in the *śruti* the privilege to consecrate sacred fires with vedic mantras, that the mantra for the consecration of rathakāras is 'ṛbhūṇām tvā' (Tai. Br. 1. 1. 4) and that the rathakāras are the caste called Saudhanvana which is neither śūdra nor one of the three higher ones, but is slightly inferior to the three higher varṇas. Viśvarūpa¹¹² (on Yāj. I. 10 ) notices that in some smṛti the rathakāra though not belonging to the three higher varṇas, was allowed the privilege of upanayana, but adds that this dictum of the smṛti is due to mistake, it being misled by the fact that he is allowed the privilege of ādhāna¹¹³ (consecration of sacred fires). In modern times the members of the carpenter caste in certain parts of the Deccan at least are in the habit of performing the upanayana and wearing the sacred thread.