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 //
According to the text’s classificatory scheme, from a Kṣatriya (rājanya) who has become a vrātya (one who has lapsed from prescribed Vedic rites) are said to arise the groups called Jhalla, Malla, Nicchivi, Naṭa, Karaṇa, Khasa, and Draviḍa.
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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