Dasa-karmakara
Also called: Dasas and karmakaras · Topic: Society in Early India: Kinship, Varna-Jati, Women · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Dasa-karmakara means "slaves and hired workers". Dasas were slaves, and karmakaras were labourers paid wages. In the early historic period (from c. 600 BCE) they did farm work and housework for rich landowners and kings. These landowners are called gahapatis, heads of large households. Dasa-karmakaras owned no land and had to depend on their masters. They show that society was divided by wealth and labour, not only by varna.
Example
Early Buddhist texts in Pali describe rich gahapatis whose fields were worked by dasas and karmakaras. These texts advise masters to treat their slaves and workers kindly. That advice shows such workers were often mistreated.
Don't confuse with
- Shudra: a varna fixed by birth. Dasa-karmakara describes a person's position as a slave or wage worker, which depended on their circumstances.