The Social Organisation in North-East India in Buddha's Time c17.12

c17.12

About the salaries of the other Court artists there are found in the Jātakas only a few general statements. An old musician (gandhabba) informs the king that his pupil wants to serve him and adds, “Fix the nature of the salary” (deyyadhammam assa jānātha, II. 250), to which the king replies, “He shall get one-half of your salary.” To this the pupil, however, does not agree; he demands equal salary, as he knows his art quite as well as his teacher. A musical tournament ordered by the king ends the matter in this way, that the vanquished scholar at a sign from the king was belaboured with stones and clubs and killed, whilst the teacher receives much money from the king and the residents.