Manusmriti — On Social Classes (Jati), Mixed Unions, and Prescribed Occupations, Shloka 22
झल्लो मल्लश् च राजन्याद् व्रात्यान् निच्छिविर् एव च नटश् च करणश् चैव खसो द्रविड एव च //
jhallō mallaś ca rājanyād vrātyān nicchivir eva ca naṭaś ca karaṇaś caiva khaso draviḍa eva ca //
وفق مخطط التصنيف في النصّ، يُقال إنّه من kṣatriya (rājanya) صار vrātya (أي من انحطّ عن الطقوس الفيدية المقرّرة) تنشأ جماعات تُسمّى Jhalla وMalla وNicchivi وNaṭa وKaraṇa وKhasa وDraviḍa.
झल्लः (jhallaḥ): ‘Jhalla’ (a named social group in the text’s taxonomy); मल्लः (mallaḥ): ‘Malla’ (a named group/people); च (ca): and; राजन्यात् (rājanyāt): from the rājanya/Kṣatriya; व्रात्यात् (vrātyāt): from (one who is) vrātya, i.e., outside/neglectful of Vedic observance; निच्छिविः (nicchiviḥ): ‘Nicchivi’ (a named group); एव (eva): indeed/just; नटः (naṭaḥ): ‘Naṭa’ (often ‘actor/performer’ as a social category); करणः (karaṇaḥ): ‘Karaṇa’ (a named group; also used historically for scribal/administrative communities in some regions); खसः (khasaḥ): ‘Khasa’ (a named people, often linked in scholarship to Himalayan regions); द्रविडः (draviḍaḥ): ‘Draviḍa’ (a named regional/ethno-linguistic designation); च (ca): and
FAQs
This verse belongs to Manu Smriti, Adhyaya 10, a chapter that systematizes social categories by describing ‘mixed’ or derivative groups in relation to varṇa ideology and ritual status. Historically, such lists are studied as normative classifications within Brahmanical legal-literary culture rather than as direct demographic records.
The verse uses ‘vrātya’ as a marker for a Kṣatriya/rājanya who is represented as having fallen away from prescribed Vedic rites and social discipline. Within Dharmaśāstra discourse, vrātya functions as a ritual-legal category that helps the text explain deviations from idealized varṇa conduct and to generate classificatory genealogies.
Grammatically, the verse is a coordinated list (enumeration) of nominative singular ethnonyms/labels (jhallaḥ, mallaḥ, etc.) governed by an implied verb of origin (e.g., ‘are born/arise’) with the ablative राजन्यात् (rājanyāt, ‘from a rājanya’) and the qualifier व्रात्यात् (vrātyāt) indicating the source condition. Several items (e.g., Khasa, Draviḍa) are ethnonyms/regional names, illustrating how Dharmaśāstra blends ritual-legal categories with broader social and geographic designations.
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