The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c22.45

v1.c22.45

Somewhat as in Buddhist literature we must therefore reverse the importance of the two 'upper castes,' and regard the epic state as consisting in a military power, whose head is the rāja; then a priestly power, politically unorganised, but divided into schools; then the merchant-power, represented by gilds, whose powerful heads (*mahājana*) are of political importance; then the farmers, unorganised but tenacious of certain religious rights and boasting of Āryan blood. The two last classes form one body only because they are neither of them noble (royal) or priestly or un-Āryan. No other tie unites them. The merchants in general belong to the town, the farmers to the country; the two are the historical divisions, brought about by economic conditions, of that order called 'the people,' in distinction from noble and priest. This was the Āryan state. Below the Āryan constituents were the many who were either remnants of wild tribes or slaves, descendants of conquered clans of other blood. They are all mentioned in the epic, as well as foreigners or barbarians. Although town-life is well known, yet the farmers and cattlemen were perhaps more generally typical, on account of their numerical superiority, of the order to which each belonged. So it is said: 'Work is for the slave; agriculture for the people-caste' (*Mbh.*, XII, 91, 4), or again 'The work of the Vaiçya is to tend cattle'; less commonly 'The duty of the priest is to beg for sustenance; of the warrior, to defend the people; of the people-caste, to make money; of the slave, to work (manually)' (*ibid.* V, 132, 30). It will be observed that the cattle-raising 'people' are ignored in favour of traders in the last citation, though 'to make money' may imply farmers and cattlemen as well as traders.