Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c12.7

c12.7

The extreme form of brāhmaṇical fanaticism displayed by Manu makes it difficult to evaluate the evidence furnished by his work. But his passages bearing on the position of the śūdras can be scrutinised in the light of information gleaned from the Mahābhāṣya of Patañjali, the dramas of Bhāsa⁵ and the Buddhist works such as the *Questions of Milinda*, the *Divyāvadāna*, the *Mahāvastu* and the *Saddharmapuṇḍarika*.¹ A Jain work known as the *Pannavaṇā*, which supplies valuable information about artisans, may be also ascribed to this period.² Memorial and votive inscriptions of this period also throw welcome sidelights on the position of the śūdra community.