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Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c12.s5: The Despised and the Untouchables

Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c12.s5

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English

The Despised and the Untouchables

c12.s5.1

Now we come to the lowest strata of society A Sūdra had a degraded position in the society from very early days Mahāvīra and Buddha tried to improve their lot to a great extent, but it seems they could not do away fully with the caste restrictions as we have seen already The Uttarādhyayana commentary mentions Citta and Sambhūya, the two sons of a Mātanga leader of Vārānasī, who led a singing and dancing party during the festival of god of love The high caste people could not tolerate it and they belaboured them with kicks and blows and turned them out of the town⁴³.

c12.s5.2

⁴² Nisi cū 15, p 1110

c12.s5.3

⁴³ Uttarā Ti 13, p 185 a, also cf Citta-Sambhūta Jātaka.

c12.s5.4

Then we meet a number of low races in our stories. The *Pānas*, also known as *Cāṇḍālas*, were employed to carry corpses.⁴⁴ We read in the *Antagaḍa* that Kanha Vāsudeva asked the *Pānas* to drag the dead body out and throw it⁴⁵ away. They also attended the burial ground; they had no houses of their own and lived outside the villages under the open sky.⁴⁶ Then there were the *Dombas*, who sang songs and sold winnowing basket and such other articles. Then there were the *Kiṃkas* who prepared the leather-fittings around the musical instruments and blew them before the criminals carried for execution. To the same category of despised classes belonged the *Sovāgas*, who cooked the flesh of dogs and sold bow-string (*tanti*). The *Varuḍas* earned their bread by making ropes.⁴⁷

c12.s5.5

⁴⁴ Vya Bhō 2 37

c12.s5.6

⁴⁵ 4, p 22

c12.s5.7

⁴⁶ Cf *Manu* X 50 1

c12.s5.8

⁴⁷ Vya Bhō 3 92, Nisī cū 11, p 747

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