Studies in Indian Art c7.s2.27

c7.s2.27

The time from about the 8th century B.C. to the rise of Mauryan imperialism is the *Mahā-Janapada* period of Indian history. It is the period of the Gṛihyasūtras and of Pāṇini, of the rise of Buddhism and Jainism. In this period people began to cast off the shackles of their tribal associations and became settled on the land in organized village communities. Two outstanding features of our cultural life in the Janapada age are to be particularly noted. The first relates to the full and unfettered freedom of association enjoyed by each group according to its needs, giving rise to a variety of corporate organizations, some well knit like the *Saṅgha* or *Śreṇī* and others only loosely bound like the *Vrāta* or associations of warlike bands. But the second feature is really important for our present purpose. With the people settled quietly on the land, pursuing the avocation of the plough, there emerged factors which led to the cultivation of arts and crafts as an imperative social need and economic function. There were groups of people which formed part of the village economy but could not wholly depend on the land. For them it was necessary to discover new ways of earning a livelihood and this was the origin of an exciting variety of *Śilpas* (crafts). The whole Janapada society, as if it were a team awoke to activity and threw itself into handicrafts. Any work done by hand, any occupation of manual skill, any activity requiring the use of mind with manual cleverness was called *Śilpa*. Yāska tells us: "Proficiency in the professions appertaining to the life of a village bestows on an individual special distinction" (*Jānapadishu vidyāto purushaviśesho bhavati*). An intensive cultivation of crafts was the hall mark of this age; the invention of a large number of appliances or skilful contrivances called *Yantras*, useful for agricultural and domestic life was a distinguishing feature of the civilization in this period, which is referred to by Manu as *Mahā-Yantra-pravartanam*. The distinction between fine art and crafts did not exist at that time. Pāṇini's definition of *Śilpa* includes dancers, musicians, instrumentalists (playing on *madduka* and *jharjhara*), and also barbers and carpenters. The material about the *Śilpas* in the *Jātakas* is to be viewed in this light.