Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c9.274

c9.274

The śūdra’s part in the solstice ritual known as the *Mahāvrata* furnishes important evidence of his participation in the religious life of the period. According to it the śūdra stays outside the *vedi* and the ārya stays inside. They fight over the possession of hide, and the victory goes to the ārya.¹ In some texts the śūdra varṇa and the ārya varṇa are distinctly mentioned.² Where the reading is ārya, it means vaiśya;³ on the other hand where it is ārya it means a member of the first three varṇas. In some text the place of the ārya is taken by the brāhmaṇa,⁴ who appears as the opponent of the śūdra, a feature which becomes common in post-Vedic times. Another Vedic passage, in which the two come in for special notice, states that neither a brāhmaṇa nor a śūdra can be offered as sacrifice to Prajāpati.⁵ The passage which occurs in the later portion of the Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, probably indicates that while the brāhmaṇa is too high for the purpose, the śūdras is too low.