Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s14.27

v1.c3.s14.27

Caṇḍāla,¹ Cāṇḍāla,² are the variant forms of the name of a despised caste, which in origin was probably a tribal body,³ but which in the Brahminical theory was the offspring of Śūdra fathers and Brahmin mothers.⁴ The references to the caste in the Yajurveda Saṃhitās and in the Upaniṣads show clearly that it was a degraded one, but they yield no particulars.