SHUDRAS AND THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION 423
the Nandas and who ruled from 322 3.C, to 183 B.C.* were also Shudras. What more glaring piece of evidence can there be to show the high dignity enjoyed by the Shudra than to point to the case of Asoka who was not merely the Emperor of India but a Shudra and his Empire was the Empire built by the Shudras.
On the question of the right of the Shudra to study the Vedas a reference may be made to the Chhandogya Upanished (V. 1.2). It relates the story of one Janasruti to whom Veda Vidya was taught by the preceptor Raikva. This Janasruti was a Shudra. This story if it is a genuine story leaves no doubt that there was a time when there was no bar against the Shudra in the matter of studying the Vedas.
Not only was Shudra free to study the Vedas but there were Shudras who had reached the status of Rishis and has been composers of the Hymns of the Vedas. The story of the Rishi Kavasha Aliusha [1] is very illuminating. He was a Rishi and the author of several hymns of the Tenth Book of the Rig-Veda. [2]
On the question of the spiritual eligibility of the Shudra to perform the Vedic ceremonies and sacrifies the following data may be presented. Jaimini [3] the author of the Purva Mimansa mentions an ancient teacher by name Badari—whose work is lost as an exponent of the view that even Shudra could perform Vedic sacrifices. The Bharadvaja Srauta Sutra (v. 28) admits that there exists another school of thought which holds that a Sudra can consecrate the three sacred fires necessary for the performance of a Vedic Sacrifice. Similarly the Commentator of the Katyayana Srauta Sutra (1 & 5) admits that there are certain Vedic texts which lead to the inference that the Shudra was eligible to perform Vedic rites. In the Satpath Brahmana (I. 1.4.12) there is enunciated a rule of etiquette which the priest officiating at the performance of a sacrifice is required to observe. It relates to the mode in which the priest should address the Haviskut (the person celebrating the sacrifice) calling upon him to begin the ceremony. The rule says:
“Now there are four different forms of this call, viz. ‘Come hither’ (Ehi) in the case of a Brahmana; ‘approach’ (Agahi) and ‘hasten hither’ (Adarva) in the case of a Vaishya and a member of the Military caste and ‘run hither’ (Adhava) in that of a Shudra.”
In the Satpatha Brahman [4] there is evidence to show that the Shudra was eligible to perform the Soma Yaga and to partake of the divine drink Soma. It says that in the Soma Yaga in place of a ‘payovrata’
1 Aitercya Brahmana Vol. II. p. 112.
2 Max-Muller— Ancient Sanskrit Literature 1860, p.58.
3 See Kane—History of Dharmashastras.
4 Quoted by Kane—History of Dharmashastras.
5 Figures are incorporated by Editors as they are not in the MS. —Editors.