The Social Organisation in North-East India in Buddha's Time c15.24

c15.24

Somewhat more accurately the wealth of a setthi is indicated, when in the Visayha Jâtaka (III. 129) it is narrated that Sakka, rendered uneasy by the charity of the setthi, destroys his entire wealth—money, corn, oil, honey, sugar, etc., even his slaves and hired labourers. As belonging to the household of a setthi, there are mentioned in another place, besides wife and child, servants (parijana) and the headsman (vacchakapâlakâ). The cowherd of a seṭṭhi drives the cattle of his master into the forest when the corn begins to ripen, erects a stall for the cow and gives the milk from time to time to the seṭṭhi. If we add that occasionally the rice fields of a seṭṭhi are mentioned, it follows that we have to look upon the seṭṭhis not only as tradesmen but also as cattle-rearing and land-cultivating owners of the soil.