Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c10.416

c10.416

Several despised jātis of the Buddhist texts roughly correspond to the untouchable sections of brāhmaṇical society. According to the Buddhist and Jain texts the caṇḍālas and the pukkusas were not included in the śūdra varṇa.¹⁰ But the Dharmasūtras incorporate them in the list of the mixed castes, who are supposed to have śūdra blood. According to Patañjali Pāṇini seem to have included the caṇḍāla and the mṛtapa (a person who watches dead bodies) in the list of those śūdras who lived outside towns and villages, and whose contact permanently defiled the bronze vases of brāhmaṇas.¹