The Social Organisation in North-East India in Buddha's Time c17.55

c17.55

All the same, the examples quoted do not justify our inferring a specially favourable position for the slaves of ancient India; other passages of our text speak clearly of the miserable lot of the bondsmen who frequently had to put up with thrashing, imprisonment and bad food. For this reason, the slave Kaṭāhaka, who has learnt to read and write along with the son of the family and who is otherwise clever and knows the art of speaking, discharges the duties of a store-keeper (bhaṇḍāgārika), but is afraid lest he should lose one day this office. "Not always," he reflects within himself, "will one care to let me have the office of a store-keeper; one good day some defect will be noticed in me and then people will thrash me, lock me up, brand me and give me the food of a slave to eat" (tāḷetvā bandhitvā lakkhaṇena aṅketvā dāsaparibhogena pi paribhuñjissanti I. 451). A female slave, who is sent by her master to work at other people's place for money, is thrown into a corner of the house and struck with a stick, as she cannot bring any money back to the house (I. 402).