[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [Vedic Index of Names and Subjects](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912) › v2.c4.s7.356 # Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s7.356 Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s7.356 - **Language:** English ### [v2.c4.s7.356](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s7.356) But it is also probable that the Śūdras came to include men of Āryan race, and that the Vedic period saw the degradation of Āryans to a lower social status. This seems, at any rate, to have been the case with the Rathakāras. In the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa¹⁴⁶ the Rathakāra is placed as a special class along with the Brāhmaṇas, Rājanyas, and Vaiśyas: this can hardly be interpreted except to mean that the Rathakāras were not included in the Āryan classes, though it is just possible that only a subdivision of the Vaiśyas is meant. There is other evidence¹⁴⁷ that the Rathakāras were regarded as Śūdras. But in the Atharvaveda¹⁴⁸ the Rathakāras and the Karmāras appear in a position of importance in connexion with the selection of the king; these two classes are also referred to in an honourable way in the Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā;¹⁴⁹ in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa,¹⁵⁰ too, the Rathakāra is mentioned as a person of high standing. It is impossible to accept the view suggested by Fick¹⁵¹ that these classes were originally non-Āryan; we must recognize that the Rathakāras, in early Vedic times esteemed for their skill, later became degraded because of the growth of the feeling that manual labour was not dignified. The development of this idea was a departure from the Āryan conception; it is not unnatural, however undesirable, and has a faint parallel in the class distinctions of modern Europe. Similarly, the Karmāra, the Takṣan,¹⁵² the Carmamna, or ‘tanner,’ the weaver and others, quite dignified occupations in the Rigveda, are reckoned as Śūdras in the Pāli texts.¹⁵³ - [Previous: v2.c4.s7.355](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s7.355) - [Next: v2.c4.s7.357](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s7.357) - [Up: v2.c4.s7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s7) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s7.356](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s7.356) · Pramāṇa