Pagination in square brackets corresponds to the first edition of Who were the shudras? How they came to be the fourth varna in the Indo-Aryan society? (Bombay: Thacker & Co., 1946).
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[22] Has the Brahmanic literature any explanation to offer which can account for the origin of the Shudras? There is no doubt that the Brahmanic literature is full of legends regarding creation which touch upon the creation of the universe, of man and of the different Varnas. Whether or not they furnish any clue to discover the origin of the Shudras, there can be no doubt that all such theories should find a place in a book which is concerned with the problem of the Shudras if for no other reason than that of assembling all material relating to the Shudras in one place and making their story complete. It would be better to take each piece of the Brahmanic literature separately, and note what contribution it has to make to the subject.
I
To begin with the Vedas. As to the Rig Veda, the legend about creation to be found in its Sukta known as the Purusha Sukta has already been set out in the previous Chapter. It now remains to take note of the legends contained in the other Vedas.
There are two recensions of the Yajur Veda: (1) the White Yajur Veda and (2) the Black Yajur Veda. To take the White Yajur Veda first. The Vajasaneyi Samhita of
the White Yajur Veda sponsors two theories. One is a mere reproduction of the Purusha Sukta of the Rig Veda with this difference that it has 22 verses, while the original [23] as it occurs in the Rig Veda has only 16 verses. The six additional verses in the White Yajur Veda read as follows:
- Brought forth from the waters and from the essence of the earth, he was produced by Vishvakarman in the beginning. Tvashta gives him form; that is the Universe of Purusha on all sides in the beginning.
- I know this great Purusha, of the colour of the sun, beyond darkness. Only by knowing him does one go beyond death; there is no other path for going.
- Prajapati moves in the interior of the womb; though unborn, he is born in many forms. Wise men see his source; wise men desire the place of the Marichis.
- He who shines for the gods, he who is the priest of the gods, he who was born before the gods,—salutation to that shining offspring of Brahma.
- The gods, generating the shining offspring of Brahma, said in the beginning: “That Brahmin who knows thus,—the gods will be under his control.”
- Sri and Laxmi are his wives; the day and night his sides; the stars his ornament; the Ashwins his bright face. Grant me my desires; grant me that; grant me everything.
He who shines for the gods, he who is the priest of the gods, he who was born before the gods,—salutation to that shining offspring of Brahma.
The second explanation contained in the Vajasaneyi Samhita is quite different from the Purusha Sukta. It reads as follows