Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c11.195

c11.195

It is difficult to say whether the rule providing for the emancipation through the payment of purchase value applied to the non-āryan slaves in the same way as it did to the āryan slaves. Perhaps even on payment the liberation of the śūdra slaves lay at the discretion of the master. But they were also sometimes emancipated, for it is laid down that selling or mortgaging the life of a man or woman slave once liberated shall be punished with a fine of 12 paṇas, with the exception of those who enslave themselves.⁴ It appears that even an ordinary slave could keep property of which he could not be deprived by his master.⁵ This could naturally help him in securing his liberation.