Shudra or Shoodra is the lowest ranked of the four varnas of the Hindu caste system and social order in India. Theoretically, Shudras have constituted the hereditary labouring class serving others. In some cases, they participated in the coronation of kings, or were ministers and kings according to early Indian texts.

The Supreme Court of India has also declared that inter-caste marriages are in the national interest and a unifying factor for the nation and there has never been a bar on inter-caste or inter-religion marriages in India.

Kshatriya, also spelled Kshattriya or Ksatriya, second highest in ritual status of the four varnas, or social classes, of Hindu India, traditionally the military or ruling class.

If that is so, it is a necessary corollary from it that the marriage of a Brahmin woman with a Shudra is also prohibited. This inference is supported by a text cited by Madhavacharya in his commentary on the Parashara Smriti, which is regarded by Hindus as an authority of special force in these times called Kaliyug.

Shudra, also spelled Sudra, Sanskrit Śūdra, fourth and lowest of the traditional varnas, or social classes, of India, traditionally artisans and labourers. The term does not appear in the earliest Vedic literature.

The Aryans categorized farmers and merchants as their society’s third caste, called the Vaishya (pronounced “VYSH-yuh”).

Hinduism: The Caste System and Reincarnation.

There is mobility in the system and jatis have changed their position over the centuries of Indian history. However, the jati moves up the social scale as a group and not as individuals. At the same time, a jati can also move up in the caste hierarchy.

Brahma

The only way to move to a higher caste in the next life is to strictly obey the rules of one’s current caste. The caste system is still prevalent in India, but has relaxed somewhat. Arranged marriages within a caste still occur, but occasionally people now marry outside their caste.

The caste system provides a hierarchy of social roles that hold inherent characteristics and, more importantly, remain stable throughout life (Dirks, 1989). An implicit status is attached to one’s caste which historically changed from the social roles to hereditary roles.

The origin of the caste system is not known with certainty. Hindus maintain that the proliferation of the castes (jatis, literally “births”) was the result of intermarriage (which is prohibited in Hindu works on dharma), which led to the subdivision of the four classes, or varnas.