Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c10.386

c10.386

Gautama lays down that a śūdra shall live with his wife.¹³ Haradatta quotes another commentator as interpreting this to the effect that a śūdra can only lead the life of a householder and not that of a student, a hermit or an ascetic.¹ It seems that in later times a brāhmaṇa, as a rule, passed through four, a nobleman through three, a citizen through two, and a śūdra through one of the āśramas.² This may not have always been the case, but the discrimination against the śūdra is consistent with his function of service to the members of the upper varṇas, a task which he could only perform as a householder.