Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c12.288

c12.288

Since these mantras are not permitted in the marriages of the śūdras,¹ it is clear that *niyoga* was confined mainly to the śūdras. This can be inferred from a further statement of Manu, who asserts that widow remarriage and levirate are regarded as beastly practices by the twice-born people learned in the śāstras.² Jolly thinks that Manu's views on the questions of *niyoga* and widow remarriage are contradictory,³ for he approves of them in some passages and condemns them in others. But these passages can be easily reconciled if we bear in mind that Manu's approval of *niyoga* and widow remarriage is meant for the śūdras and his condemnation of these is meant for the members of the three upper varṇas. The prevalence of the above mentioned practices among the śūdras would show that women were not so dependent in their community.