Local Government in Ancient India c9.28

c9.28

There is one other noticeable feature in connexion with the rules of apprenticeship as explained by Nārada. It is that the considerations of caste did not affect the admission of apprentices into a craft. The only consideration that mattered was the consent of the apprentice's guardian and relations, and when that was obtained the youth was free to learn the craft which he affected. This shows that the barriers between occupations were not so fixed and rigid as those between castes. This is proved not only by the aforesaid solitary rule stated by Nārada, but by the universal permissive regulation contained in all the important law-books, authorizing the twice-born classes to take to an occupation of an inferior caste, in times of distress or failure, to obtain a living through lawful labour.²