mixed castes
group · 3 works · 3 mentions · 4 anchored passages
Śvapāka · Ambaṣṭha · Andhra · Antyāvasāyin · Caṇḍāla · Dhigvaṇa · Dāsa · Kaivarta · Kukkuṭaka · Kārāvara
in the texts
Manusmṛti
The many named castes born from unions across or against the varna order, each assigned specific occupations and social restrictions.
Through the promiscuous intercourse of the *varnas*, through marriage with those who should not be married, and through the abandonment of their own duties, are born the mixed castes.
From a Śūdra on Vaiśya, Kṣatriya, and Brāhmaṇa women are born these mixed castes:
Those who are of mixed origin, born in the reverse and proper orders, and who are intermingled with each other—them I will now declare in their entirety.
Parāśara Smṛti
A degraded 'dog-cooking' group used both as an object of forbidden contact and a simile for extreme social degradation.
A Śūdra who is ever addicted to liquor and meat and engaged in low deeds—a Brāhmaṇa should avoid him from afar, like a dog-eater (*śvapāka* श्वपाक).
If a Śūdra has intercourse with a *Śvapāka* (श्वपाक) woman or a *Caṇḍāla* (चण्डाल) woman, he should perform the *Prājāpatya Kṛcchra* (प्राजापत्य कृच्छ्र) and give four pairs of cows.
A *dvija* (द्विज) who has intercourse with a *Caṇḍāla* (चण्डाल) woman or a *Śvapāka* (श्वपाक, dog-cooker) woman should fast for three nights and then seek the instruction of Brāhmaṇas.
Viṣṇu Smṛti
Castes arising from unions between different varnas, each assigned a specific hereditary occupation
Those born of wives in the direct order of castes are of the same *varṇa* as their mother.
Those born of wives in the reverse order of castes are despised by the Āryas.
Guarding women and living by that is the occupation of the *vaidehakas*.