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Vol. XXII, No.-3
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of a Brāhmaṇa' a Ksatriya called Son of a Ksatriya' or a Vaisya is called 'son of a Vaisya' nobody rushes to the conclusion that 'son of a Brahmana', 'son of a Ksatriya' and 'son of a Vaisya' are categories different from Brahmaņas. Ksatriya and Vaisya. Similarly, Antyaja and Antyayoni mean 'offspring of Antya' and no body with an average knowledge of Sanskrit grammar would argue that Antyaja' and 'Antyayoni' are castes other than the Antyas.
The words 'Antya' and 'Antyaja' are used in two senses in the Dharmasastras. In a broad sense it connotes the entire śūdra va na as in the Chapter VIII, verse 279 of Manu. The topic under discussion there is what punishment should be given to a sudra for crimes committed by him. First, it is laid down that the tongue of a śüdra is to be chopped off if he dares to use harsh words against a twiceborn4. Then comes the above verse prescribing amputation of the limb an 'Antyaja' uses to offend a person of a superior varņa. Under the circumstances, the term 'Antyaja' cannot mean anything but śūdra. The terms Antya' and 'Antyaja', therefore, connote all people who are not twice-born, that is, who are not deemed fit for upanayana and who have to reside on the periphery of village.
The words were used in a narrow sense too. The śūdras were divided in two strata and the words then indicated the lower stratum of the sudras. We come to know of this usage, for example, from the following:
"Women shall testify for women, twice-born of equal varna for the twice-born, 'good' (Sat) sūdras for the śūdras and Antyajas for the Antyas".5
Obviously, 'Antya' or 'Antyaja' in such case means 'asat sudras' i.e. all the śūdras who were deemed not-'good'.
We find the word 'Antya' used in a narrower sense too in the Manusmrti. In a verse Manu forbids residing with the Caṇḍālas, the Pulkasas, the Antyas, and the Antyavasayins etc. As the three castes, namely, the candalas, the Pulkasas and the Antyavasayins are mentioned separately, the connotation of the term 'Antya' becomes That is done, it seems, to imply that the three castes mentioned are worse than the rest of the Antyas.
narrower.
narrow sense.
Generally, the words Antya or Antyaja are not used in such a Even the literature of the age bears testimony to it. Bhasa, the dramatist, was a predecessor of Manu. He was a contemporary of Nārāyaṇa (53-1 B.C.), the ruler of the Kanva dynasty." In the first act of his drama Avimāraka, the hero introduces himself
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