Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c8.308

c8.308

Fourthly, it is difficult to vouch for the authenticity of the tradition in the Śānti Parvan that Paijavana was a śūdra. He has been identified with Sudās, the head of the Bhārata tribe, and it is argued that this famous hero of the Battle of Ten Kings was a śūdra.³ There is nothing in the Vedic literature to support this view, and the *Śānti Parvan* tradition is not corroborated by any other source, epic or Purāṇic. The tradition says that the śūdra Paijavana performed sacrifices, and occurs in a very late portion of the *Mahābhārata* where it is stated that the śūdras can perform five great sacrifices and make gifts.¹ It is difficult to judge whether the tradition was true or false, but clearly it was meant to serve as a precedent for śūdras making gifts and sacrifices, which, as will be shown later, was in keeping with the liberal attitude of the *Śānti Parvan*. It may be also pointed out that in later times the term śūdra or vṛṣala was applied indiscriminately by the brāhmaṇas to anybody who went against them. We do not know whether this was the case with the śūdra Paijavana. In many cases such statement do not mean that kṣatriyas and brāhmaṇas were reduced to the status of śūdras, but they merely suggest the śūdra origin of these personages, especially on the side of their mother.²