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Vol. XXI, No. 3 ĀPASTAMBA
Apastamba composed his Dharmasūtra before Patanjali in the third century B.C.. It appears certain castes of the Shüdra varna could serve as cooks in the household of the three varņas. 83 But there was another section of the Shüdras too, called Apa pătra. They could not use the food vessels of the three varmas, nor could they touch them. Haradatta, the commentator of Apastamba interprets the word as a term used for 'pratilma jātis' like Rajaka etc. Earlier we have seen that Manu uses the term 'Agapātra' for the Chandalas and the Svapachas. Who the 'Apapātra' groups referred to by Apastamba vere is a point capable of beroming a matter of contraversy. If it has not become so already, the explanation lies in the fact that nobody has cared to persue the matter so far. Yet, Āpastan.ba leaves no room for gain saying the existence of untouchability at the time.34 The Jatakas
The Jatakas belong to a period not later than third century B.C. The Jätakas were not composed by the Brāhmaṇas. So the conditions depicted therein cannot be deemed as exaggerations or falsifications. In the Mātanga Jātaka, we come across the story that 16000 Brāhmaņas became outcasts as they ate the refuse of the Chandalas. In another tale, a Brāhmana took the refuse of a Chandala out of sheer ignorance and when he became aware of what he had done, he committed suicide in repentance (Satadhamma Jātaka). The Brah. maņas ran away from the streets whenever they saw the Chandālas for fear of becoming polluted by contact through air (Sataketa Jātaka). This cannot be dismissed as prijudice of the Brāhmaṇas either because other varņas too avoided the Chandālas, The daughter of a merchant was going on a palanquin A Chandāla became charmed of her beauty on the way and the girl too watched him attentively. Later when the girl came to know that the young man was Chandāla she washed her eyes to get rid of pollution and went away while the chandala was killed for the offence of looking at her. 36 That show the contact witb the Chandālas polluted not only the Brāhmanas, but even the Vaishyas. Therefore the Chandālas were not impure but untouchables, KAUȚILYA
The ARTHASASTRA of Kautilya is dated the third or fourth century of christ by some while assigned to the Mauryan age by others. It contains certain remarks which prove the existance of untouchability even in the age of the work.
1. In a simile, it informs us that the well of the Chandalas is of
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