Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c8.320

c8.320

A very similar derivation of the term is given by the author of the *Uṇādi-sūtras* in the grammar of Pāṇini, where the term śūdra is resolved into two components, i.e. root *śuc* or *śuk*+*ra*.⁵ It is difficult to account for the suffix *ra*, and in this case also the derivation seems to be fanciful and far-fetched.⁶