Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c9.t22.2

c9.t22.2

Unfortunately, we do not know much about the details of labour. A distinction is made between high and low (juṅgiya) labour. The hunters, fowlers, fishermen, washermen, peacock-tamers, barbers, cobblers¹ and in some countries even black-smiths and wine-sellers² came under the category of low. Then the following occupations were despised, since there was fear of injury to living beings (kammādāna) in these occupations: dealing in charcoal by preparing it from firewood (aṅgālakamma), dealing in wood (vanakamma), carts (sāḍīkamma), occupation with fares (bhāḍikamma), ploughing (phoḍikamma), ivory (danta), lac (lakkha), liquors (rasa), and poison (visa), crushing of sugarcane etc. by machinery (jantapīḷaṇa), branding animals or castrating bulls etc. (nillañchana), setting fire to woods (davaggidāvanayā), draining lakes and ponds (saradahatalāvasosanaya), and bringing up women for immoral purposes (asaijaṇaposanayā).³