The Social Organisation in North-East India in Buddha's Time c11.87

c11.87

What duties and functions were connected with the office of a viceroy, the Jâtakas do not make clear; their statements are confined to the description of superficial things. On ceremonial occasions the uparâjan sits behind the king on the back of the elephant (II. 374), a seat which is otherwise occupied by the purohita. In the Kurudhamma Jâtaka it is further explained how the viceroy goes in the evening to do the king’s work, accompanied by a large crowd from the street; “when he has driven to the palace he leaves on the yoke the reins and the spiked stick, in case he sleeps in the palace after dinner. At this sign, the crowd disperses, comes again the next day in the morning and waits till the viceroy comes out; also the driver who was in charge of the carriage at night comes the next morning with the carriage to the door of the palace. If, on the other hand, the *uparājan* wants to return immediately, he places the rein and the stick in the carriage and goes to the palace to serve the king. This sign the people recognise as meaning that he will return immediately and wait at the gate of the palace.” In reality, we have here a vivid picture of Court life in ancient India given in a few strokes; what, however, were the king’s services which the *uparājan* performed, we learn neither here nor anywhere else in the Jâtakas.¹ Also from the nature of our text we cannot safely trust to such statements, for whenever such statements occur, they appear only as incidental remarks. The narrator of a story is very little concerned with the actual political institutions; the events in the interior of the palace, in the chambers of the ladies, plots and palace intrigues occupy the foreground of his interest. In this the *uparājan* naturally plays an important part; we read repeatedly of the king's fears that the *uparājan* might become too powerful and dominate him, and of disciplinary measures taken by him to guard against such an eventuality. In the Succaja Jātaka (III.67) it is narrated how the king sees his son on active service and how at the sight of him, the thought occurs to the king that he may probably injure him. He calls the prince and says to him, “My dear son, so long as I am living, you shall not live in the town; remove your residence elsewhere and accept the reins of government after my death.” Such banishments of the *uparājan* do not seldom occur, according to the Jātakas (II. 203, 229); also the fears of the king were not always without foundation, as the Thusa Jātaka shows (III. 121 sq.); the sixteen-year-old prince plots against the life of the king; he communicates his plan to his servants who strengthen him in his resolve: “You are right O King, what is the use of kingship if one gets it in old age; you must in some way or other kill the king and take upon yourself the rulership.” The king discovers all plots, binds the prince and imprisons him. What is remarkable, however—one may see in this a proof of how deeply-rooted the idea was in the people's minds that the son was the legitimate heir to the throne—is, that the story ends with the words, “After the funeral ceremonies of the deceased king were over, the prince was released and the reins of government handed over to him.”