History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c46.59

v3.c46.59

So far as the smṛti texts and the medieval works are concerned a śūdra could not become a sannyāsin. The Śāntiparva (63. 11-14) is quite clear that a śūdra cannot be a bhikṣu. It also (18. 32)²¹⁶⁵ informs us that in its day many (probably including śūdras) assumed the outward signs of the 4th āśrama, got their heads tonsured and moved about in ochre-coloured garments (kāṣāya) for securing alms and gifts. But there are clear indications that śūdras did assume even in the times of ancient smṛtis the ascetic's garb and mode of life. The Viṣṇu Dh. S. V. 115 and Yāj. II. 241 (as read by Viśvarūpa) prescribe the fine of one hundred *paṇas* for one who gave a dinner to śūdra ascetics in rites for gods and the manes. When the Āśramavāsika-parva 26. 33 states that Vidura was buried as an ascetic, the commentator Nīlakaṇṭha remarks that this indicates that even śūdras can follow the mode of the ascetic life.