Mṛcchakaṭikam
Source: TW
“Ośaladha ajjā ośaladha!”
Taking the idea from the last chapter of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s book ‘The Untouchables’, I checked the depiction of Cāṇḍālas in Mṛcchakaṭikam. They’re taking Cārudatta for execution & people don’t give them way.
So many times they have to tell them to give them way, saying “ośaladha! ośaladha!” (move away! move away!). This shows that people didn’t shy away from walking towards or close to a Cāṇḍāla then. It is further interesting to note that after the truth comes out they leave to meet the king sitting in the ‘jaṇṇavāḍa’ (yajñavāṭa) or the place where yajña is performed. Although it is not shown what happens when they go there, but it is clear that they don’t think that it’d be difficult to meet the king there and immediately leave.
Dr. Ambedkar in the said chapter is of the opinion that untouchability in the case of, say Cāṇḍālas, arose during the Brahminical rule of Gupta dynasty, which implies that the kings who followed ‘Brahminism’ did that. The mention of jaṇṇavāḍa & that of Dr. Ambedkar in the said chapter is of the opinion that untouchability in the case of, say Cāṇḍālas, arose during the Brahminical rule of Gupta dynasty, which implies that the kings who followed ‘Brahminism’ did that. The mention of jaṇṇavāḍa & that of the king Śūdraka, the ‘dvijottama’, as a master of Ṛgveda, Sāmaveda etc., in the beginning of play, suggests that the faith practised by the then royalty may be somewhat ‘Brahminical’.
bhAgavatam
Did ‘Brahmahatyā’ have a wider meaning?
Śrī Romaharṣaṇa is considered a Pratilomaja Sūta as per Bhāgavata Purāṇa. But killing him (while he was seated on Brahmāsana), Śrī Balarāma was told to perform the prāyaścitta of Brahmahatyā (killing of a Brāhmaṇa). It seems that Brahmahatyā may’ve had a wider meaning.
Ref.: BP 10.78.17-32
mahAbhAratam
“O King of Videha! the Dvijas, who possess the knowledge of Vedas & Śāstras, call Śūdra as Prajāpati. But O King, I see him as Viṣṇu, the chief Lord of the world.”
- Ṛṣi Parāśara, Mahābhārata, 12.285.28
brahmANDa-purANa kirAta
When a Kirāta ‘Vīradatta’ was renamed ‘Dvijavarman’
In Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa, there’s the story of a Kirāta Vīradatta, who used to sell wood. He once got a part of the wealth that a thief had stolen & kept in the forest. With the suggestion of his wife he used the money to get wells, temples, and so forth constructed. Vīradatta dedicated all those to Brāhmaṇas, who were lead by Devarāta. Pleased by his deeds, the Brāhmaṇas named him ‘Dvijavarman’ and his wife ‘Śīlavatī’.
He also founded a place named Devarātapura, where he stayed to protect the Brāhmaṇas. When Dvijavarman died, he had to face repercussions because of using stolen wealth, and turned into vāyu for 12 years. + Nārada Muni met his wife Śīlavatī who refused to reach Brahmaloka (earned by her puṇya), until her husband regained his body. She desired a solution for her husband. Nārada gave her (a new bhoga-sharIra and) the Rudrādhyāya (or Śatarudra) to chant, which she did. Eventually it benefitted her husband, who then ended up residing at Kailāsa.
It’s interesting how Brāhmaṇas renamed a Kirāta Vīradatta as ‘Dvijavarman’, a name which sounds Kṣatriya-like.
Source: Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa, Uttarabhāga, Upodghātapāda, Chapter 7.
Pādatāḍitaka
As per the translation of Motichandra and V. S. Agrawal, it seems that in around the 5th century CE Ujjayinī, Śvapacas/Cāṇḍālas were appointed as persons who would bring a person into the court or call the Vādī and Prativādī.