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Concept
Shudra
Summary
Shudra or Shoodra (Sanskrit: ) is one of the four varnas of the Hindu caste system and social order in ancient India. Various sources translate it into English as a caste, or alternatively as a social class. Theoretically, Shudras constituted a class serving other three classes.
The word Shudra appears in the Rig Veda and it is found in other Hindu texts such as the Manusmriti, Arthashastra, Dharmashastras and Jyotishshastra. In some cases, Shudras participated in the coronation of kings, or were ministers and kings according to early Indian texts.
The term śūdra appears only once in the Rigveda. This mention is found in the mythical story of creation embodied in the Purusha Sukta ("The Hymn of Man"). It describes the formation of the four varnas from the body of a primeval man. It states that the brahmin emerged from his mouth, the kshatriya from his arms, the vaishya from his thighs and the shudra from his feet. According to historian R.S. Sharma, the purpose of this verse may have been to show that shudras had the same lineage as the other varnas and hence were a section of the Vedic society. On the other hand, it could also represent an attempt to provide a common mythical origin for the heterogenous brahminical society.
While the Rigveda was most likely compiled between c. 1500 BCE and 1200 BCE, John Muir in 1868 suggested that the verse that mentions the four varnas has "every character of moderness both in its diction and ideas". The Purusha Sukta verse is now generally considered to have been inserted at a later date into the Vedic text, possibly as a charter myth.
According to Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton, "there is no evidence in the Rigveda for an elaborate, much-subdivided and overarching caste system", and "the varna system seems to be embryonic in the Rigveda and, both then and later, a social ideal rather than a social reality". Historian R. S. Sharma states that "the Rig Vedic society was neither organized on the basis of social division of labour nor on that of differences in wealth...
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