Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c12.221

c12.221

Manu’s laws of adultery do not discriminate so much against śūdra women as against śūdra men. If a brāhmaṇa approaches unguarded women of the three lower varṇas, he shall be fined 500 paṇas; for a similar crime against an antyaja woman the fine shall be raised to a thousand paṇas.³ The same fine shall be imposed on a kṣatriya or a vaiśya if he has intercourse with a guarded śūdra woman.⁴ If a brāhmaṇa dallies with a vṛṣalī for a night, he removes that sin in three years, by subsisting on alms and by daily muttering sacred texts.⁵ While most of these laws are meant to preserve the purity of the brāhmaṇa by preventing moral lapses on his part, they make it clear that Manu also protects the purity of the śūdra woman. This is in keeping with his principle that women of all the four varṇas should be protected.⁶