2.9 Society in the
Kshatriya Republics
The
occupational class or Varna system prevalent in the Indo-Aryan dominated
society started turning rigid during this period. It slowly transformed into
birth based class system (caste) whereby selection of an occupation was decided
by the person’s lineage and not by his interest or capability. The period saw
coming of new castes into the society either due to inter-caste marriage or
some specific kind of skill getting developed. Even within the same class,
certain group developed feeling of being superior than others. For example, the
Shakyas considered them superior than other Kshatriyas and the Udichchha
considered them superior than other Brahmins. Although there is no clarity on
fixed ranking within society, many literatures suggested Brahmins and
Kshatriyas struggling between them as well as forcing their superiority on
other castes.
2.9.1 Status of Kshatriyas in the Republics
The republic states were closely associated with the warrior tribes and
named after the ruling Kshatriya clan or King. Literatures report that in
republics, unlike the monarchy, only two Varnas existed. The first and foremost
was ruling Kshatriya Varna and the second was Dasa Karmakara Varna. Land, which
resembled power, was mostly owned by the political elite Kshatriyas which
comprised kings, nobles, ministers, military commanders and other officers.
These populations exercised their rights on land and also on other things which
they liked. The story of Lichchhavis, whereby they didn’t allow an
exceptionally beautiful woman Amrapali to marry but made her to belong to all
Lichchhavi men by declaring her as nagarvadhu, is an example of extraordinary
rights of Kshatriyas. Rice cultivation was the main agricultural activity in
republics and there are evidences of Dasa-Karmakaras (slaves and laborers) in
the fields of Raja-Kulas (the land owning Kshatriya Clans). The Jatkas report
that many Kshatriyas took considerable interest in learning Vedas and other
branches of knowledge by going to Taxila at the age of sixteen or more. As a
result, in spiritual field too, Kshatriyas in the form of Buddha and Mahavira
made deep penetration and challenged others. The Kshatriyas holding foremost
position in society can be seen in famous Jaina myth according to which
Mahavira was removed from the womb of Brahmini Devananda and placed in the
Kshatriyani Trishala as no Jain Tirthankara can born in a family other than
that of Kshatriyas. Buddha too when asked about rebirth opted for Kshatriya
family than Brahmin. The superiority of Kshatriyas over others in republics and
across Aryan society is clearly visible from the dialogue that happened between
Buddha and Brahmin Ambattha. In the dialogue, the latter accepted the
superiority of Kshatriyas over Brahmins based on various social conditions of
that era. The dialogue is beautifully preserved in Ambattha Sutta and goes as
below [31] -
Buddha once on a tour through the Kosala country with about five hundred
brethren arrived at a Brahmin village named Ikkhanankala. At that time Brahmin
Pokkharsadi was dwelling at Ukkattha, the territory granted to him by King Pasenadi
of Kosala as a royal gift. After hearing of the Buddha’s arrival, he asked his
pupil Ambattha to go and find out the truth about his wisdom and knowledge. He
told Ambattha to identify thirty two bodily signs of a great man to draw the
conclusions. Ambattha started his journey on a chariot and reached the place
where Buddha was staying. In the park of Ikkhanankala, he came down from the
chariot and walked through the park asking where about of Buddha. The brethren
directed him towards the tent where Buddha was staying. After he knocked,
Buddha opened the door and he along with many Brahmin pupils entered in. All
pupils exchanged greeting, compliments of politeness and courtesy with Buddha
and took their seats except Ambattha who was walking here and there. When
Buddha questioned him about his behavior, he justified it saying ‘this is the
way to talk with shoveling, fraud friars, menial black fellows and the off
scouring of our kinsman's heels’. Buddha objected his approach. The objection
further fuelled his angriness and then he sarcassed ‘Rough is this Shakya breed
of yours Gautama, and rude; touchy is this Shakya breed of yours and violent.
Menials, mere menials, they neither venerates, nor value, nor esteem, nor give
gifts to, nor pay honor to Brahmins. That, Gotama, is neither fitting, nor is
it seemly!’ He went on saying that how Shakyas gave no respect and laughed at
him because of his Brahmin origin when he visited their assembly. He further
added that out of all the four classes, all the three are attendants on the
Brahmins. So Shakyas forgetting this have behaved like menials. Ambattha
repeatedly labeling the Shakyas as menials forced Buddha to ask him about his
lineage. To this Ambattha replied that he is a Kanhayana. Buddha tracing his
lineage said that the Shakyans were once masters of his ancestors and his clan
is offspring from one of the slave girls. After narrating Ambattha the entire
story from King Okkaka till origin of both Shakya and Kanhayana clans, he
turned on the social position of a Brahmin and Kshatriya in the society.
Buddha:
What think you, Ambattha?
Suppose a young Kshatriya should have connection with a Brahmin maiden, and
from their intercourse a son should be born. Now would the son, thus come to
the Brahmin maiden through the Kshatriya youth, receive a seat and water (as
tokens of respect) from the Brahmins?
Ambattha:
Yes, he would, Gautama.
Buddha:
But would the Brahmins allow him to partake of the feast offered to the dead,
or of the food boiled in milk, or of the offerings to the gods, or of food sent
as a present?
Ambattha:
Yes, he would, Gautama.
Buddha:
But would the Brahmins teach him their verses or not?
Ambattha:
they would, Gautama.
Buddha:
But would he be shut off, or not, from their women?
Ambattha:
He would not be shut off.
Buddha:
But would the Kshatriyas allow him to receive the consecration ceremony of a
Kshatriya?
Ambattha:
Certainly not, Gautama.
Buddha: Why
not that?
Ambattha:
Because he is not of pure descent on the mother's side.
Buddha: Then
what you think, Ambattha?
Suppose a Brahmin youth should have connection with a Kshatriya maiden, and
from their intercourse a son should be born. Now would the son, thus come to
the Kshatriya maiden through the Brahmin youth, receive a seat and water (as
tokens of respect) from the Brahmins?
Ambattha:
Yes, he would, Gautama.
Buddha:
But would the Brahmins allow him to partake of the feast offered to the dead,
or of food boiled in milk, or of an offering to the gods, or of food sent as a
present?
Ambattha:
Yes, they would, Gautama.
Buddha:
'But would the Brahmins teach him their verses or not?
Ambattha: They
would, Gautama.
Buddha:
But would he be shut off, or not, from their women?
Ambattha:
He would not, Gautama.
Buddha:
But would the Kshatriyas allow him to receive the consecration ceremony of a
Kshatriya?
Ambattha:
Certainly not, Gautama.
Buddha: Why
not that?
Ambattha:
Because he is not of pure descent on the father's side.
Buddha: Then,
Ambattha, whether one compares
women with women, or men with men, the Kshatriyas are higher and the Brahmins
inferior.
And
what think you, Ambattha?
Suppose the Brahmins, for some offence or other, were to outlaw a Brahmin by
shaving him and pouring ashes over his head, were to banish him from the land
or from the township. Would he be offered a seat or water among the Brahmins?
Ambattha:
Certainly not, Gautama.
Buddha: Or
would the Brahmins allow him to partake of the food offered to the dead, or of
the food boiled in milk, or of the offerings to the gods, or of food sent as a
present?
Ambattha:
Certainly not, Gautama.
Buddha:
Or would the Brahmins teach him their verses or not?
Ambattha:
Certainly not, Gautama.
Buddha:
And would he be shut off, or not, from their women?
Ambattha:
He would be shut off.
Buddha:
But what think you, Ambattha?
If the Kshatriyas had in the same way outlawed a Kshatriya, and banished him
from the land or the township, would he, among the Brahmins, be offered water
and a seat?
Ambattha:
Yes, he would, Gautama.
Buddha:
And would he be allowed to partake of the food offered to the dead, or of the
food boiled in milk, or of the offerings to the gods, or of food sent as a
present?
Ambattha:
He would, Gautama.
Buddha:
And would the Brahmins teach him their verses?
Ambattha:
They would, Gautama?
Buddha:
And would he be shut off, or not, from their women?
Ambattha:
He would not, Gautama.
Buddha:
But thereby, Ambattha, the
Kshatriya would have fallen into the deepest degradation, shaven as to his
head, cut dead with the ash-basket, banished from land and township. So that,
even when a Kshatriya has fallen into the deepest degradation, still it holds
good that the Kshatriyas are higher, and the Brahmins inferior. Moreover it was
one of the Brahma gods, Sanam-Kumara
who uttered this stanza:
‘The Kshatriya is
the best of those among this folk
who put their trust in lineage.
But he who is perfect in wisdom and righteousness,
he is the best among gods and men.'
(This
verse also occurs in the Vana Parva
of Mahabharata and in the Agganna Sutta.
Sanam-kumara means 'ever
virgin.' According to myth prevalent in both Brahmins and Buddhists - there
were five 'mind born' sons of Brahma, who remained always pure and innocent. Sanam-kumara
was one of the five Brahma-Gods.)
Now this stanza was well known to Ambattha. He too said ‘I too approve it;
I also say:
‘The Kshatriya is
the best of those among this folk
who put their trust in lineage.
But he who is perfect in wisdom and righteousness,
he is the best among gods and men.’'
And
the Ambattha Sutta continued. In the entire episode, Brahmin Ambattha accepted the
superiority of Kshatriyas over Brahmins based on the social status of children
born out of wedlock between Kshatriya father – Brahmin mother, Brahmin father –
Kshatriya mother and outcasted Kshatriyas and outcasted Brahmins. Buddha based
on above social facts reiterated that ‘whether one compares women with women,
or men with men, the Kshatriyas are higher and the Brahmans inferior.
The
entire debate also points towards the sentiment prevailing in the east of Aryavrata
by the 5th century BC whereby both warrior and priestly occupational
classes started enforcing their superiority over other occupational classes of
society. In the midst of this, the warrior class held the foremost position in
society and the trend continued till some centuries later evident from the inferior
position of Ashoka Maurya and his Brahmin mother in the royal palace of
Patiliputra. Though Kshatriyas were proud of their profession, still many of them worked as potters, basket makers, reed
workers, garland makers and cooks. There are examples of them doing agriculture
such as the Shakyas and Koliyas. Many of these Kshatriyas who could not
dissociate them from such professions and also left their Brahmanical duties under
the influence of anti-Brahmanic faith, such as Shaivism, Buddhism, Jainism and
other aboriginal faiths, were later tagged to shudra class by orthodox Aryans
of Kuru-Panchala. However, some retained their Kshatriya status in society but at
inferior position as Vratyas, for eg. Malla and Lichchhavis.
2.9.2
Social Status of Dasa-Karmakara in republics [29] [30]
The Dasa Karmakara Varna in republics included various other
groups such as Brahmins, traders, farmers, artisans, wage laborers, slaves and
so on who all had a sub-ordinate status politically and probably economically
and socially too. They were not entitled to use the clan name and did not have
rights of political participation. For instance, Upali, the barber who lived in
the Shakya territory and Chunda - the metal smith who served the last meal to
Buddha and lived in the Malla territory, were not part of the ruling elite and
did not attend the assembly – the Santhagara. In case of Brahmins and purohitas too, they did not enjoy the
prestige as seen in the monarchies. There are hardly any references of gifts of
lands to Purohitas and Brahmins and according to Ambatthasutta of the Digha
Nikaya, when Brahmin Ambattha visited Kapilvastu, members of the Shakya
assembly are said to have laughed at him treating with scant respect. Like
Kshatriyas, in Brahmins too, many of them were involved in a profession other
than their defined activities. Based on the literatures available, the Brahmins
of this period may be divided into two broad categories - True Brahmins and
worldly Brahmins.
The true Brahmins included Vedic teachers, ascetics and priests.
Their general activities included study of Vedas, teachings, performance of
sacrifice for themselves as well as for others, making and accepting gifts and
so on. The practice of offering sacrifices was very common. On the occasion of
these sacrifices, they used to receive dana
(the gift). The Samadatta Jataka says
that a king gave 16 cows, ornaments and village to a Brahmin. As per the Vedas,
such Brahmins were well-grounded and versed in different branches of learning.
Brahmins like Sunetta, Sela and
others were having vast knowledge and imparted education to a large number of
students and were teachers of world-wide repute. The Jatakas describe such Brahmins
also renouncing the world and going into forests. Opposite to such Brahmins,
worldly Brahmins were those who under social and economic pressure could not
carry their hereditary profession of teaching and priesthood. From the Buddhist
literatures, it is known that the Brahmins
lived as farmers, craftsmen, businessman, soldiers, and administrators and so
on. The Dasa-Brahmna Jataka states
that how Brahmins in those days pursued ten
occupations against rule, such as -
- becoming physicians
- servants and wagon drivers;
- tax
collectors who would not leave the household without collecting alms;
- diggers
of the soil in the garb of ascetics with their long hair and nails and covered
with dust and dirt;
- traders
selling fruits, sweets and liked many other things;
- farmers,
- priests
interpreting omens,
- policemen
with arms to guard caravans and shops like Gopas and Nishadas,
-
hunters
in the garb of hermits killing hares, cats, fish, tortoise etc and
- menial
of kings who helped in their baths in the garb of Rajnikas
The list of Dasa-Brahmna
Jataka looks over ex-aggregated but in other Jatakas too, Brahmins are
referred as physicians, astrologers, farmers, traders and hawkers,
carpenters,
shepherds, archers and hunters. Some Brahmins practiced magic and
possessed
mantras like vedabbha-manta, the pathavijaya-manta and Chintamani-vijja.
Few Brahmins went
about telling fortunes (lakkkhana pathaka),
reading the body signs and telling past and future (angavijja-pathaka)
and reading the luck of swords (asikkhana pathaka). All these
professions were, however, considered as degraded by the Indo-Aryan
priests living
in the region of Kuru-Panchala. Like Kshatriyas, in Brahmins too, some
of them
were finally degraded to Shudra class. Most of them who had occupation
of
farmers, physicians and fortune reading and followed anti-Brahmanic
faiths, such
as Shaivism, Buddhism, Jainism and other aboriginal cults, were tagged
as
Vratya Brahmins and placed at the socially inferior position than the
ritualistic
class of Brahmins across India in later period.
Other than the Brahmins, there were people living in these
territories whose occupation and social status make it clear that they
were
none other than Shudras or labor class. However there is no mention of
any such
word in Buddhist and Jain texts. This class included few artisans who
were
involved in their hereditary professions such as potters (kumbhakara),
smiths (kammara),
ivory-workers (dantakar), carpenters
(vaddaki) and so on. The group had
their own settlements. There were also some people who were wandering
and
earned their livelihood by entertaining the society. They included
dancers and
singers (nata), acrobats (langhanataka), tumblers, jugglers (mayakara),
snake charmers (ahitundika), musicians (gandhabba), drummers (bheri
vadaka), conch blowers (sankhadhamaka) and so on. The Majjhim Nikaya and
Kunala Jataka state few more castes of similar social status and
they were the cowherds (gopalaka), cattleman
(pasupalaka), grass cutters (tinna-haraka), stick gatherers
(kattha-haraka) and foresters (vanna-kamika). These people lived away
from the town and had their own villages. They visited towns for selling
their
produce and thus earning their livelihood.
2.9.3
The Despised Castes of Gana [29] [30]
There were few occupational classes whose social condition was very
bad than others. They were chandalas, the venas, the nishadas, the rathakaras
and the pukkusas. Nishadas were generally hunters and foresters. The pukkusas
were generally flower puckers. They lived on hunting other than cleaning the temples
and palaces. The social status of carpenters, barbers, weavers, basket makers
and flute makers were considered low. The worst position was of chandalas as
they were not only untouchables but also unwatchable.
Thus
by the end of late Vedic period and before the rise of Buddhism, Indo-Aryan
group of humans were well settled in the east of Aryavrata and ruled over most
of the regions with administration following both monarchical and advanced
style of democratic ruler-ship. On the cultural and ritual front, some of them were
influenced by those of aboriginals especially that mentioned in Atharva Veda
and therefore also practicing Shaivism and animism other than their own
tradition of natural phenomena worship. On the social front too, some interbred
with aboriginal populations belonging to Dravidian and Mongoloid group of
humans but some strictly prohibited any such relations. On the occupational
front, many of them entered in professions already in the hand of aboriginal
human populations. All these developments finally resulted in birth of superior
clan or blood purity concept in the new lot of Indo-Aryans and thus the origin of
birth based caste and sub-caste system in same Varna. In the midst of such
environment, the warrior or Kshatriya class of all human races commanded great
respect from the masses and enjoyed the foremost position in the society. By the
end of the Vedic period, the eastern republics of Indo-Aryans rose to
prominence in spirituality and contributed significantly to the human
civilization process after birth of Buddha and Mahavira in the same.
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References:
[29] Singh,
M. M. (1967). Life in North-Eastern India in Pre-Mauryan Times, pp. 5-26.
[30] Jain,
K. C. (1991). Lord Mahavira and His times, pp. 211-249 (Rev. Ed.). New Delhi:
Motilal Banarsidass.
[31] http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/dob/dob-03tx.htm
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Index Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10
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