Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c10.103

c10.103

Many references in the early Pāli texts speak not of the śūdras as such, but of the dāsas (slaves) and kammakaras (hired labourers) as being employed in agricultural operations. There can be little doubt that the landless śūdras were employed as kammakaras. There is evidence to show that the dāsas also mostly belonged to the śūdra varṇa. This can be deduced from the phrase suddo vā sudda-dāso vā, which is used by the Buddha to define the position of the śūdra after his enumeration of the first three varṇas.¹ It would be wrong to translate the term sudda-dāso vā as the slave of a workman.² The crucial phrase is clearly an example of a case in apposition, and means the śūdra who is a slave. It is inconceivable that here the kṣatriyas, the brāhmaṇas, and the seṭṭhis, who are elsewhere represented as owning slaves, should be left out and the śūdra should be singled out as owning slaves. Therefore Oldenberg is right in inferring that the statement in question does not make any distinction between the śūdra and the dāsa.¹ It is significant that the earliest identification of the śūdra with the slave is found in an early Pāli text and not in the Dharmasūtras, from which this position can be inferred only indirectly. It is only in the post-Mauryan period that Manu states this position in clear and strong words.