The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c10.17

c10.17

That caste with its appendage of outcaste prevailed in the country is clear from the Jâtakas. In the Setaketu Jātaka (III, 233) a Brāhmaṇa runs away from a Caṇḍāla and seeks atmospheric purification. In the Mātaṅga Jātaka (IV, 388) a Brāhmaṇa ascetic finds a tooth-pick, thrown by a Caṇḍāla up the river, caught in a tuft of his hair. "Damn you," he cries, "wretched Caṇḍāla, you bird of evil omen, you shall not live here any longer, move your dwelling down the river."