Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c10.327

c10.327

The marriage rules of the Dharmasūtras were dictated by considerations of varṇa. Of the eight forms of marriage, which first appear during this period, the gāndharva (love marriage) and the paiśāca (marriage by seduction which implied some sort of consent) were considered lawful for the vaiśyas and the śūdras. According to Baudhāyana the first was meant for the vaiśyas and the second for the śūdras.¹ In justification of this view he states that because of their preoccupation with agriculture and service the wives of the vaiśyas and the śūdras cannot be kept under control.² This suggests that the employment of the womenfolk of the lower orders for earning their livelihood rendered them comparatively independent of their husbands; the inability of the women of the higher varṇas to earn their living made them more dependent but more respectable in society.