Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c13.468

c13.468

During this period there seems to have been not only an increase in the number of the untouchables but also some intensification in the practice of untouchability. The *Bṛhaspati Smṛti* provides a penance for removing the sin arising out of touching a caṇḍāla.⁸ Fa-hsien informs us that, when the caṇḍālas enter the gate of a city or a market-place, they strike a piece of wood to give prior notice of their arrival so that men may know and avoid them.¹ The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa provides a purificatory rite for the person who looks at an antyaja or an antyāvasāyin.² But the practice of untouchability was observed mainly in respect of the caṇḍālas. There is no direct evidence that the dombas were regarded as untouchables. Similarly there is nothing to show that the carmakāras, who came to be looked upon as untouchables in later times, were regarded as such during this period.