Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c11.169

c11.169

This naturally excludes the āyogava, the kṣattā, the niṣāda, the pulkasa and the caṇḍālas from shares. The position of the pāraśava (i.e. a son begotten by a brāhmaṇa on a śūdra woman), however, is better. It is said that, if a brāhmaṇa has no issue, the pāraśava son shall get one third share in paternal property;¹ the remaining two shares shall devolve either on his surviving sapiṇḍas, or, failing them, on his teacher or student.² This may suggest that, if the brāhmaṇa father had no issue, even the sons born from the śūdra wife were given considerable shares. In the case of a brāhmaṇa having sons from wives of all the four castes, Kauṭilya accepts the Dharmasūtra principle of division of shares.³ He extends this even to the case of kṣatriya and vaiśya fathers begetting sons on the wives from three or two castes, in every case the śūdra son getting the smallest share.⁴