Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c12.11

c12.11

The descriptions of the Kali age in several early Purāṇas perhaps allude to this age³ when the varṇa divided society was marked by strong social conflicts and undermined by the activities of heretical sects and the incursions of the Bactrian Greeks, Śakas, Parthians and Kuṣāṇas. Partly as a reaction to the pro-Buddhist policy of Aśoka, and partly because of the advent of these new peoples, Manu desperately tries to preserve brāhmaṇical society, not only by ordaining rigorous measures against the śūdras, but also by inventing suitable genealogies for the incorporation of foreign elements into varṇa society. Moreover, his undue glorification of the power of the sword (daṇḍa)⁴ is also meant to serve that end.