Shloka 60
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
(तथैव शूद्रा विहिता: सर्वधर्मप्रसाधका: । शूद्राश्न॒ यदि ते न स्यु: कर्मकर्ता न विद्यते ।।
śrīmaheśvara uvāca |
tathaiva śūdrā vihitāḥ sarvadharma-prasādhakāḥ |
śūdrāś ca yadi te na syuḥ karmakartā na vidyate ||
trayaḥ pūrve śūdramūlāḥ sarve karmakarāḥ smṛtāḥ |
brāhmaṇādiṣu śuśrūṣā dāsadharma iti smṛtaḥ ||
vārtā ca kāru-karmāṇi śilpaṁ nāṭyaṁ tathaiva ca |
ahiṁsakaḥ śubhācāro daivata-dvija-vandakaḥ ||
śūdro dharma-phalair iṣṭaiḥ svadharmeṇopayujyate |
evamādi tathānyac ca śūdradharma iti smṛtaḥ ||
etat te sarvam ākhyātaṁ cāturvarṇyasya śobhane |
ekaikasyeha subhage kim anyac chrotum icchasi śobhane ||
Śrī Maheśvara said: “In the same way, Śūdras too are prescribed as those who help accomplish the whole order of dharma. If there were no Śūdras, there would be no one to carry out the work of service. The three earlier varṇas are all said to be rooted in the Śūdra, for it is the Śūdra who is regarded as the doer of service-labour; service to Brāhmaṇas and the rest is remembered as the duty of a servant (dāsa), that is, of the Śūdra. Trade and livelihood by commerce, the work of artisans, crafts, and also performance (nāṭya) are likewise declared as the Śūdra’s duties. He should be non-violent, of good conduct, and one who reveres the gods and honours the twice-born. By his own dharma, the Śūdra attains the desired fruits of dharma. Thus, and in other such ways, the dharma of the Śūdra is taught. All this I have explained to you, O fair one, concerning the fourfold social order—each varṇa in turn. O fortunate lady, what else do you wish to hear?”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames the Śūdra’s role as essential to sustaining the wider dharmic order through service and practical occupations, while emphasizing ethical restraints (non-violence, good conduct) and reverence toward deities and the twice-born; it also asserts that fulfilling one’s own duty (svadharma) yields the desired fruits of dharma.
Śrī Maheśvara continues a didactic explanation of cāturvarṇya, describing the duties and virtues associated with the Śūdra and then concluding that he has explained the dharmas of all four varṇas one by one, asking the listener what else she wishes to hear.