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Shudra (IAST: Sanskrit and Hindi: शूद्र Śūdra, now normally spelled Sudra or Súdra in English, which has produced a spelling pronunciation) is the fourth Varna in the traditional four-section division in the Caste system in India. Their assigned and expected role in post-Vedic India was that of servants and laborers. The four Varnas are Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra. According to authors R. Chandra and K. L. Chanchreek, the Shudras form about 75 to 80 percent of the population of Hindus, though for practical reasons the percentage cannot be ascertained with certainty.

Origins

Whilst the origins of the other varnas can be traced to Vedic words, the word varna is translated as the Sanskrit word for color. In the Shanti Parva of Mahabharata, it is said that there was only one Varna—Brahmana—in the beginning. The other varnas were formed depending on the dominance of the three Guṇas—Sattva, Rajah, and Tamas—in one's self. The varnas were socio-economical roles that people take in a society. It is also mentioned in the Purusha sukta of the Rigveda that shudras are said to have emanated from the feet of the Virat Purush (पद्भ्याम् शूद्र् अजायत padbhyām śūdro ajāyata).

Shudras and North Indian society

It is commonly believed that the caste division is more uniform in North India than in South India. Another feature of North Indian society is the presence of castes or Jātis with conflicting Varna status. Some prominent rulers of North India were believed to have originated from the Shudra caste, for example, the Nandas.

Medieval royal dynasties

Inscriptions of Shudra dynasties declare that belonging to the fourth varna was a matter of pride. An inscription of Singaya-Nayaka (1368 CE) says:

The three castes, Brahmanas and the next , were produced from the face, the arms and the thighs of the Lord; and for their support was born the fourth caste from His feet. River Ganges, the purifier of the three worlds also sprang from Lord's feet. The members of this caste are eagerly attentive to their duties, not wicked, pure-minded, and are devoid of passion and other such blemishes; they ably bear all the burdens of the earth by helping those born in the other caste.

Another inscription relates how his relative Kapaya-Nayaka "rescued the Andhra country from the ravages of the Mohammedans".

Shudras outside India

See also: Balinese caste system

Shudra as a Varna is seen amongst the Hindus of Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bali in Indonesia. In Bali, they form 90% of the practicing Hindu population. During the historic period, many people in Java, Cambodia, and Champa (a region in Vietnam) were considered to be Shudras prior to their conversion to Islam or Buddhism and Christianity.

See also


Notes

  1. Oxford English Dictionary, s. v. "Sudra" sic
  2. http://www.scribd.com/doc/6237429/Who-Were-the-Shudras
  3. Sastri, K. Rama (1982). "Akkalapundi grant of Singaya-Nayaka: Saka-Samvat 1290" Epigraphica Indica, vol. XIII. India: Archaeological Survey of India. pp. 259ff., v.5–7.
  4. Sastri, K. Rama (1982). "Akkalapundi grant of Singaya-Nayaka: Saka-Samvat 1290" Epigraphica Indica, vol. XIII. India: Archaeological Survey of India. p. 261.

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