[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958) › c9.274 # Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c9.274 Śūdras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c9.274 - **Language:** English ### [c9.274](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.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. - [Previous: c9.273](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c9.273) - [Next: c9.275](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c9.275) - [Up: c9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c9) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c9.274](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c9.274) · Pramāṇa