Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c12.90

c12.90

Manu lays down that a śūdra should not be permitted to accumulate wealth, for he gives pain to the brāhmaṇas.⁵ It is suggested that this injunction is an exaggerated statement (*arthavāda*) addressed to the śūdra himself,⁶ but the text does not provide any basis for such an interpretation. The injunction is also compared to an admonition in the English prayer-book advising a poor man “therewith to be contented”.⁷ Since the passage in question occurs in the chapter on times of distress, it may have been directed against the Buddhist monks or foreign rulers who were looked upon as no better than śūdras. At any rate it is evident from the law of inheritance that the śūdra owned property.¹ This can also be inferred from the old rule repeated by Manu that vaiśyas and śūdras should surmount their misfortunes through payment.²