Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c9.109

c9.109

According to a passage of the Yajus collections of both the schools,⁴ on the occasion of the rājasūya sacrifice the king established among the viś (people)⁵ prays to Sūrya for the expiation of the sin committed against the arya and the śūdra. Relying on Pāṇini⁶ the commentators Uvaṭa and Mahīdhara take the word arya in the sense of vaiśya.⁷ This shows that not even the king was free to oppress the members of the two lower varṇas, a situation entirely different from the one in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa⁸ where the vaiśya appears as one to be oppressed, and the śūdra as one to be beaten at the pleasure of the king.