It formed those aerial (creatures) and animals both wild and tame.ĩ. From that universal sacrifice were provided curds and butter.

With him the gods, the Sadhyas, and the rishis sacrificed.Ĩ. This victim, Purusha, born in the beginning, they immolated on the sacrificial grass. When the gods performed a sacrifice with Purusha as the oblation, the spring was its butter, the summer its fuel, and the autumn its (accompanying) offering.ħ. When born, he extended beyond the earth, both behind and before.Ħ. From him was born Viraj, and from Viraj, Purusha. He was then diffused everywhere over things which eat and things which do not eat.ĥ. A quarter of him was again produced here. With three-quarters, Purusha mounted upwards. All existences are a quarter to him and three-fourths of him are that which is immortal in the sky.Ĥ. Such is his greatness, and Purusha is superior to this. He is the Lord of immortality, since (or when) by food he expands.ģ. Purusha himself is this whole (universe), Whatever has been and whatever shall be. On every side enveloping the earth he overpassed (it) by a space of ten fingers.Ģ. Purusha has a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet. A study of the Chaturvarnya must in its turn start with a study of the ninetieth Hymn of the Tenth Mandala of the Rig Veda- a Hymn, which is known by the famous name of Purusha Sukta. For, it is worth knowing how the Shudras came to occupy the fourth place, whether it was the result of evolution or it was brought about by revolution.Īny attempt to discover who the Shudras were and how they came to be the fourth Varna must begin with the origin of the Chaturvarnya in the Indo-Aryan society.

That such an enquiry is of first-rate importance is beyond question. But very few have cared to inquire who were these Shudras and how they came to be the fourth Varna. Ambedkar dedicated the book to Jyotirao Phule (1827–1890)ĮVERYBODY knows that the Shudras formed the fourth Varna of the Indo-Aryan society. The book discusses the origin of the Shudra Varna. Editors Note- Who Were the Shudras? is a history book published by Indian social reformer and polymath B.

Who were the shudras by ambedkar