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Chandragupta Maurya and His Times c14: Chapter XI: Social Conditions

Chandragupta Maurya and His Times c14

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Chapter XI: Social Conditions

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**Social System: Castes.** Society was based on the orthodox Brahminical system which divided it among four principal castes (*varṇas*) as already described, together with many lower castes (*avara-varṇa*) [VI. 1; VII. II].

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**Mixed Castes.** There was also in the country any number of mixed castes (*antarāla*) as the outcome of marriages between persons of different castes. The fruits of such inter-marriage between them are thus mentioned by Kauṭilya [III. 7]: (1) Offspring of *anuloma* marriage: Ambashṭha, Nishāda or Pāraśava (of Brahmin father); Ugra (of Kshatriya father); Śūdra (of Vaiśya father); (2) offspring of *pratiloma* marriage: Āyogava, Kshatta, and Chaṇḍāla (of Śūdra father); Māgadha and Vaidehaka (of Vaiśya father); and Sūta (of Kshatriya father).

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Offspring of further mixtures are thus stated: The son of an Ugra by a Nishāda woman is called *Kukkuṭaka*; of a Nishāda by an Ugra woman *Pulkasa*; of an Ambashṭha by a Vaidehaka woman, *Vaiṇa*; of a Vaidehaka by an Ambashṭha woman, *Kuśīlava*; of an Ugra by a Kshatta woman, *Śvapāka*.

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**Ascendancy of Brahminism.** It is to be recalled that "the Mauryan empire", as F. W. Thomas puts it [*Cambridge History*, I. 484], "began with a Brāhman, as well as a national reaction," and, under Kauṭilya's leadership, regulated society by the rules of *Varṇāśramadharma*, as explained above. The apex of this society was the Brāhmaṇa who, as *Purohita*, and the king's preceptor, influenced politics and administration to a very large extent, and legislation as a member of the *Parishad*. His social position of pre-eminence was recognised by laws exempting him from taxation and confiscation, from corporal punishment and the death penalty, branding and banishment being in his case the *ultima ratio* [IV. 8]. But all this social honour was due to the fact that he hardly belonged to the society as such: he was in the world but not of it. "His true office was study and teaching, and his proper abode was the forest hermitage where he maintained the sacred fires and lived for another world" [*Cambridge History*,] [*Ib.*].

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But such a social order was now threatened by the growth of heterodox and proselytising sects like Jainism, Buddhism, and many others mentioned in the literature of the times [See writer's *Hindu Civilization*, pp. 222-26], which were threatening its foundations by organising brotherhoods of ascetics (*pravrajita*). Accordingly, we can well understand why Kauṭilya, as the champion of the Brahminical system, does not at all look with favour upon premature renunciation of the world and of the obligations of domestic life without the formal sanction of legal authorities (cf. *āprichchhya dharmasthān* in II. 1) and without provision for son and wife (*putradāram apratividhāya*) [*Ib.*]. He even forbids giving any quarter in the villages to such unlicensed ascetics for fear of disturbance to rural society (*na janapadaṁ upaniviśeta*) [*Ib.*].

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“Accordingly, we see in the Mauryan age the beginning of a stage of concentration, in which only a few great sects could maintain themselves by the side of a settled Brāhmaṇa orthodoxy. And this was a natural corollary of a great empire” [*Cambridge History, Ib.*]

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**Greek accounts of Hindu Society: Confusion between Caste and Craft.** It is not at all a matter of surprise that the Greek notices of Hindu Society do not show a complete comprehension of a system which is rather singular and strange to foreigners. Megasthenes, and the Greek writers after him, describe the seven ‘classes’ of India by a confusion between castes proper and the crafts associated with them. “But his seven classes may truly reflect”, as Bevan well points out [*Ib.* 409], “the various activities which a Greek resident at Pāṭaliputra could see going on round about him in the fourth century B.C.”

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**The Brahmin as seen by Megasthenes.** It is, however, possible to separate the Greek accounts of caste from those of the occupations followed by the different classes of people with which they are mixed up, or the different occupations followed by the same caste.

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Megasthenes has recorded the following observations on Brahmins as a caste:

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He calls the Brahmins “philosophers who are first in rank but form the smallest class in point of number” [Frag. XXXIII].

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But we owe to Strabo [XX. i, 58-60] a fuller account of what Megasthenes has recorded on the subject:

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'Brachmanes'. "The philosophers are of two kinds: (1) *Brachmanes* and (2) *Sarmanes*. The Brachmanes are the best esteemed, for they have a more consistent dogmatic system."

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Studentship. (As students) they "have their abode in a grove in front of the city within a moderate-sized enclosure. They live in a simple style, and lie on beds of rushes or (deer) skins. They abstain from animal food and sexual pleasures, and spend their time in listening to serious discourse."

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Householder's State. "After living in this manner for seven-and-thirty years, each individual retires to his own property, where he lives for the rest of the days in ease and security.

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"They then array themselves in fine muslin, and wear a few trinkets of gold on their fingers and in their ears. They eat flesh, but not that of animals employed in labour. They abstain from hot and highly seasoned food."

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This is a description of the first *Āśrama* of life, that of the Brahmachārī, followed by that of the householder. Only there is a mistake in taking the period of studentship at 37 years, which is exceptional and is the limit contemplated by Manu [III. 1]. Here Megasthenes also shows his ignorance of the Hindu division of life into four *āśramas*.

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Megasthenes also indicates the occupations followed by the Brahmins of the day.

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Occupations. They serve as priests "private persons who wish to offer sacrifices or perform other sacred rites."

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They also "are employed publicly by kings at what is called the Great Synod where, at the beginning of the new year, all the philosophers are gathered together, and any philosopher who may have committed any useful suggestion to writing, or observed any means for improving the crops and the cattle, or for promoting the public interest, declares it publicly."

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Diodorus, in his epitome of Megasthenes, puts the matter a little differently.

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He says that "in requital of their services (as priests), they receive valuable gifts and privileges."

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"To the people of India at large they also render great benefits when, gathered together at the beginning of the year, they forewarn the assembled multitudes about droughts and wet weather, and also about propitious winds and diseases, and other topics capable of profiting the hearers. Thus the people and the sovereign, learning beforehand what is to happen, always make adequate provision against a coming deficiency, and never fail to prepare beforehand what will help in time of need."

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Arrian also observes as follows on the same subject: "The sophists are not so numerous as the others, but hold the supreme place of dignity and honour; for they are under no necessity of doing any bodily labour at all or of contributing from the produce of their labour anything to the common stock, nor, indeed, is any duty absolutely binding on them, except to perform the sacrifice offered to the gods on behalf of the State."

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Sarmanes (*Śramaṇas*). To return now to the other class of philosophers called *Sarmanes* by Megasthenes: Strabo says: "As to the *Sarmanes*, the most highly honoured are called *Hylobioi*, 'forest-dwellers' (*vānaprasthas* or *vanavāsins*). They live in the forests on leaves of trees and wild fruits, and wear garments made from the bark of trees. They also abstain from sexual intercourse and from wine." According to Clemens, "they neither live in cities nor even in houses. They wear barks of trees and live on acorns. They neither marry nor beget children." This description corresponds to Brahmachārīs who preferred to remain as such through life, and were called *Naishṭhika-Brahmachārīs*.

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The term *Sarmanes* stands for Sanskrit *Śramaṇas* which was then a general term for ascetics, whether Buddhist or non-Buddhist, though by the time of Asoka the term was used exclusively for Buddhist monks or Bhikshus.

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As Bevan points out: "It has been thought that we have in the *Sarmanes* of Megasthenes the first mention of Buddhists by Western writers. In the description, however, there is nothing distinctively Buddhist and the term *Śramaṇa* is used in Indian literature of non-Buddhist sects. If, therefore, the people to whom Megasthenes heard the term applied were Buddhists, he must have known so little about them that he could only describe them by features which were equally found in various sorts of Hindu holy men. His description applies to Brahmin ascetics rather than to Buddhists" [*Cambridge History*, I. 420].

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It will appear from the description of these *Śramaṇas* that they were Brahmins of the third and fourth Āśramas of life and known as *Parivrājakas* and *Sannyāsīs*.

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Gautama, in his *Dharma-sūtra*, calls a man of the third *āśrama* a *Bhikshu* who is described as (1) *Anichaya*, devoid of store of articles and (2) *Ūrdhvaretā*, devoid of desire for sexual intercourse (as stated also by Megasthenes); and a man of the fourth *āśrama*, a *Vaikhānasa*, who should (as Megasthenes also says), live in the forest (*vane*), subsist on roots and fruits, and wear only bark and skin (*chīrājina*) [III and X].

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Baudhāyana and Āpastamba use the term *Parivrājaka* for the fourth *āśrama* and also the term *Sannyāsī*.

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**Their occupations.** The Greek writers tell of the activities of these ascetics or *Śramaṇas*.

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"They communicate with the kings who consult them by messengers regarding the causes of things, and who, through them, worship and supplicate the deity.

"Some of them are physicians engaged in the study of the nature of man. They effect cures rather by regulating diets than by the use of medicines. Of medicines, they attach greater value to those applied externally than to drugs. The remedies most esteemed are ointments and plasters. All others they consider to be in a great measure pernicious in their nature.

"They, too, like Brāhmans, train themselves to endurance, both by undergoing active toil, and by the endurance of pain, so that they remain for a whole day motionlesss in one fixed attitude."

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As Elphinstone points out: "The habits of these physicians seem to correspond with those of Brāhmans of the fourth stage."

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And McCrindle also rightly remarks: "It is Buddha should never have been expressly noticed by the Greek authors, though it had existed for two centuries before Alexander. The only explanation is that the appearance and manners of its followers were not so peculiar so as to enable a foreigner to distinguish them from the mass of the people.”

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Strabo further says about their habits that “they do not live in the open air. They live on rice and meal, which they can always get for the mere asking, or receive from those who entertain them as guests in their houses.”

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They are also stated to cultivate “a knowledge of Pharmacy.”

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Some of these *Sarmanes* again are stated to be “diviners, sorcerers, and adepts in the rites and customs relating to the dead, who go about begging both in villages and towns.”

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Some of these again “are of superior culture and refinement and inculcate superstitions which they consider favourable to piety and holiness of life.”

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**Women.** “Women pursue philosophy with some of them, but abstain from sexual intercourse.” We may instance the case of the Upanishadic Rishi, Yājñavalkya, whose wife Maitreyī followed her husband from home into the forest in the pursuit of highest philosophy.

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**Pramnai** (*Prāmāṇikas*). Strabo [VI. 22] mentions a third class of Philosophers whom he calls the *Pramnai*. “They are philosophers opposed to the Brachmanes and are contentious and proud of argument. They ridicule the Brachmanes who study physiology and astronomy as fools and impostors. Some of them are called the *Pramnai* of the mountains, others the *Gymnetai*, and others again the *Pramnai* of the city or the *Pramnai* of the country.

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“Those of the mountains wear deer-skins and carry wallets filled with roots and drugs, professing to cure diseases by means of incantations, charms, and amulets.

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“The Gymnetai, in accordance with their name, are naked, and live generally in the open air, practising endurance, as I have already mentioned, for seven-and-thirty years.

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“Women live in their society without sexual commerce.

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“The Pramnai of the city live in towns, and wear muslin robes, while those of the country clothe themselves with skins of fawns or antelopes.”

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Sophists. Arrian [*Indika*, XI, XII] who calls the philosophers *Sophists* also states the following particulars:

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“To them the knowledge of divination among the Indians is exclusively restricted, and none but a *Sophist* is allowed to practise that art. But the private fortunes of individuals they do not care to predict.

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“These sages go naked, living during winter in the open air, to enjoy the sunshine, and, during the summer, when the heat is too powerful, in meadows and low grounds under large trees.

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“They live upon the fruits which each season produces, and on the bark of trees—the bark being no less sweet and nutritious than the fruit of the date-palm.”

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Arrian [XII] also mentions the singular fact that “the sophists could be *from any caste*; for the life of the Sophist is not an easy one, but the hardest of all.”

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This shows that the life of a *Sannyāsī* was open to persons of all castes, because the *Sannyāsī*, in renouncing the world, and all social ties, was beyond the rules of caste. This also points to the liberality of Hinduism which makes no distinctions of caste in the life spiritual.

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**Buddhists.** Lastly, we owe to Clemens of Alexandria the following statement:

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“Among the Indians are those philosophers also who follow the precepts of Boutta whom they honour as a god on account of his extraordinary sanctity.” As Colebrooke has pointed out, “here the followers of the Buddha are clearly distinguished from the *Brachmanes* and the *Sramanes*” (cited by McCrindle).

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These various descriptions of the highest intellectual and cultured classes of India whom the Greeks severally call Philosophers, Sophists, Brachmanes, Sarmanes, the Pramnai, the Gymnetai, and followers of the Boutta (Buddha) may be taken to be descriptions of the various classes of ascetics, Brahminical and non-Brahminical, Buddhist, Jain and the like.

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**Pre-Buddhist Ascetics.** India in the fourth century B.C. and, indeed, since the rise of Jainism and Buddhism in the fifth century B.C., had been noted for the multiplicity of its schools and sects of ascetics. Their forerunners were the wandering ascetics of the Vedic days, the *Charakas*, and, later, the *Parivrājakas*, followed by pre-Buddhistic sects like the *Ājīvikas* (who went about naked, the *Nirgranthas* (of scanty clothing), the *Jaṭilakas*, and the like. In the *Dialogues of the Buddha* [II. 165], the ascetics of different orders are described under the general name, *Samaṇa-Brāhmāṇa*, ‘leaders in religious life (*gaṇino*)’ a name occuring very often in the Edicts of Asoka. The *Aṅguttara* [IV. 35] mentions two classes of ascetics whom it calls *Parivrājakas*: (1) *Brāhmaṇa* and (2) *Aññatitthiya*, i.e., other non-Buddhist ascetics.. The *Brāhmaṇa Parivrājakas* are characterised as *Vādaśīla*, disputatious [*Sutta Nipāta*, 382], *Vitaṇḍas* and *Lokāyatas*, Sophists, casuists and materialists [*Chullavagga*, V. 3, 2], and the like. The situation is well summed up in the *Udāna* [pp. 66-7, ed. Pali Text Society]: “*Sambahulā nānātitthiyā Samaṇa-Brāhmaṇā Paribbājakā nānā-diṭṭhikā nānādiṭṭhi-nissayanissitā*: there were very many, and various, sectaries of *Śramaṇas* and *Brāhmaṇas*, all *Parivrājakas*, followers of different *Diṭṭhis*, *Darśanas* or systems, and organisations.”

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*Prāmāṇikas.* Regarding the class of philosophers decribed by Strabo under the name of *Pramnai* “on the basis of some other source than Megasthenes,” Bevan rightly points out that “the people intended are undoubtedly the *Prāmāṇikas*, the followers of the various philosophical systems, each of which has its own view as to what constitutes *Pramāṇa*, a ‘means of right knowledge.’ These philosophers are, as a rule, orthodox Brāhmans, but they view with contempt those Brāhmans who put their trust in Vedic ceremonies” [*Cambridge History*, I. 421].

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General view: Living and Clothing. Taking all the Greek versions together, we find that the Brahmans are described as living (1) on the mountains, (2) in the woods, (3) in the plains, (4) in the cities and (5) in the country. Some go naked, some, those of the mountains, wear deer-skins. Those of the country side also wear ‘skins of fawns or antelopes.’ Those of the towns are dressed in fine muslin, wear finger-rings and ear-rings of gold, “with skins of deer or of gazelles hung from their shoulders, growing beards and long hair which is twisted up and covered by a turban” [*Cambridge History*, I. 422]. Those of the woods wear garments of barks of trees. As students, they lie on beds of rushes and skins which they also wear.

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**Food.** Students abstain from animal food.

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The ascetics of the woods live on leaves and fruits and also eat nutritious barks of trees.

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Householder-Brāhmans eat meat, but not that of animals employed in labour, such as cattle. They avoid hot and over-spiced food. They eat rice and barley meal.

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**Occupations: Priesthood.** Some beg their Food.

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They do not serve on pay.

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They work as priests and get presents in return as sources of livelihood.

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**Meditation.** Their chief occupation is meditation which they continue unmoved in a fixed position for a whole day.

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**Divination.** They acquire powers of divination and are utilised by the State to give forecasts of weather, drought, and storms, and even epidemics.

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But they do not divine for private individuals.

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Their advice is sought by kings.

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**Philosophical Congress.** There were annual Philosophical Congresses assembled by the kings. At these they announced their own discoveries as to religion and philosophy. The Greeks say that they gave their suggestions as to agriculture and cattle and also advised on politics and general affairs of the country. The Upanishads speak of such learned Conferences of which they were themselves the products. The most famous of these was the Congress of Philosophers convened by king Janaka of Videha with Ṛishi Yājñavalkya as its most prominent figure.

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Practice of Medicine. Lastly, the Greeks noticed how some of these had specialised in Medicine and practised as Physicians, but preferring to cure diseases by diet rather than drugs. They invented valuable ointments and plasters. They also cured diseases by Mantras and amulets. They specialised in Physiology, Pharmacy, and Astronomy.

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They abstained from wine and women.

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Women Ascetics. We are also told: "The Brāhmans do not admit their wives to their philosophy: if the wives are wanton, they might divulge mysteries to the profane; if they are good, they might leave their husbands, since no one who has learnt to look with contempt upon pleasure and pain, upon life and death, will care to be under another's control."

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This, however, applies to the life of the householder. For we are told that "in the case of some *Śramaṇas* (those who are forest dwellers), women also are permitted to share in the philosophic life, on the condition of observing sexual continence like the men," as we have already seen.

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Brahmans' Spirituality. Megasthenes makes a true observation typical of Brāhmans as a class when he states: "The chief subject on which the Brahmans talk is death; for this present life, they hold, is like the season passed in the womb, and death for those who have cultivated philosophy is the birth into the real, the happy, life. For this reason they follow an extensive discipline to make them ready for death."

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This is a correct appreciation of the Brāhmanical way of life and ideals. The 'extensive discipline' referred to is the discipline extended over the four Āśramas of life which are a direct preparation for death.

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**Ascetics seen by the Greeks in the Panjab.** At the time of Alexander's invasion, the Greeks first saw the Indian ascetics at Takshaśilā. As they won't care to come to see Alexander, Alexander sent to them Onesicritus who reports that he saw 15 ascetics about 10 miles from the city, given to meditation in the sun, sitting naked. On being told that the Yavana king wanted to learn their wisdom, one of them bluntly answered that, "no one coming in the bravery of European clothes—cavalry cloak and broad-brimmed hat and top-boots, such as the Macedonians wore—could learn their wisdom. To do that, he must strip naked and learn to sit on the hot stones besides them" [*Cambridge History*, I, 358].

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Aristobulus in his book states that he saw at Takshaśilā two of these ascetics, one with a shaven head, and the other with long hair, while both had their group of disciples. When they went to the market place, crowds flocked to them for counsels [*Ib.* 42].

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The leader or Guru of these ascetics is named by the Greeks Dandamis (or Mandanis), an unbending idealist, who did not care to see Alexander even on pain of death and sent his reply in noble words like the following: "God alone is the object of my homage.

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Alexander is not God since he must taste of death. I have no fear or favour to ask. What Alexander can offer is utterly useless. The things that I prize are these leaves which are my house, these blooming plants which supply me dainty food. Having nothing which requires guarding, I have tranquil slumber, whereas had I gold to guard, that would banish sleep. The Brahmins neither love gold nor fear death. Death means that one will be delivered from his ill-assorted companion, the body.” [Frags. LIV and LV].

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These words truly represent the philosophy of life followed by the ascetics of India in all ages up to this day, believing in *chittavṛtti-nirodha*, ‘withdrawal of mind from the objective world of matter’, as the foundation of religious life and spirituality for man.

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Kshatriyas. These correspond to the fifth class of Megasthenes in India’s population. In the words of Arrian: “It consists of the warriors who are second in point of numbers to the husbandmen but lead a life of supreme freedom and enjoyment. They have only military duties to perform. Others make their arms and others supply them with horses, and they have others to attend on them in the camp, who take care of their horses, clean their arms, drive their elephants, prepare their chariots and act as their charioteers. As long as they are required to fight, they fight, and, when peace returns, they abandon themselves to enjoyment—the pay which they receive from the State being so liberal that they can with ease maintain themselves and others besides.”

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*Vaiśyas* and *Śūdras*. These come under the second, third, and fourth castes mentioned by Megasthenes. “The second caste consists of the husbandmen who form the bulk of the population and in disposition most mild and gentle. They are exempted from military service, and cultivate the lands undisturbed by fear. They never go to town, either to take part in its tumults or for any other purpose, but live in the country with their wives and children. The work of these tillers of the soil consists of ploughing or gathering in their crop, pruning the trees or reaping the harvest.”

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Next, there are “the traders who vend wares, and artisans who are employed in bodily labour. Of these, some are armourers, who fabricate the weapons of war. Some are ship-builders, some are sailors employed in the navigation of rivers. They receive wages and victuals from the king, for whom alone they work. They also make the implements which husbandmen and others find useful in their different callings.”

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Then there are “the hunters and herdsmen who neither settle in towns nor in villages but live in tents and lead a wandering life. They alone are allowed to hunt and to keep cattle and to sell draught animals and lend them to hire. By hunting and trapping, they clear the country of wild beasts and fowls, and of the pests with which it abounds, those wild beasts and birds which devour the seeds sown in the fields by the husbandmen. In return for their services they receive an allowance of grain from the king.”

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Occupations. The sixth and the seventh castes noticed by Megasthenes are misnomers. He confounds caste with craft or occupation. Those two castes are really made up of government servants of diffierent grades.

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**Informers.** The sixth caste is made up of what are called the 'Overseers' whose duties have been already described.

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**Councillors.** The seventh caste is made up of what are called the Councillors and Assessors who "deliberate on public affairs, to whom belong the highest posts of Government, the Tribunals of justice, the Advisers of the king, the Treasurers of the State, the Generals of the Army, the Chief Magistrates."

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According to Arrian, "the seventh caste consists of the Councillors of State who advise the king or the self-governed cities in the managemnt of public affairs, and enjoys the prerogative of choosing Governors, Chiefs of Provinces, Deputy Governors, Superintendents of the Treasury, Generals of the Army, Admirals of the Navy, Controllers, and Commissioners, who superintend Agriculture."

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It may be noted that the herdsmen and hunters of Megasthenes are called *Gopālakas*, *Lubdhakas*, and *Āṭavikas* and other workers employed under the Superintendents of Agriculture, Cattle, and Pastures in the *Arthaśāstra*, as described above.

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The 'armourers' are mentioned as belonging to the Department of *Āyudhāgārādhyaksha* and 'shipbuilders' as serving under *Nāvadhyaksha*.

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The Artisans plying other crafts are mentioned by Kauṭilya under different Departments.

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We have already pointed out the correspondence of the Officers called Overseers and Councillors by Megasthenes to the *Gūḍhapurushas* and the *Amātyas* and the various other *Adhyakshas* of Kauṭilya.

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**Caste and Occupation.** When Megasthenes states that "a soldier cannot become a husbandman, or an artisan a philosopher," or that "no one is allowed to marry out of his own caste, or to exercise any calling or art except his own," or "to exchange one profession or trade for another," or "to follow more than one business", he is evidently making a confusion between Caste and Occupation. An 'artisan' who was a Śūdra by caste could not become a 'philosopher' or a Brahmin, nor could a soldier, a Kshatriya by caste, become a husbandman who was a Vaiśya. Megasthenes further states [Frag. XXXIII]: "An exception is made in favour of the philosopher who for his virtue is allowed this privilege." This points to the Hindu law permitting a Brahmin to follow an occupation belonging to the lower castes, by way of an *āpad-dharma*, for the sake of livelihood as a necessity which knows no law, in an emergency.

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**Manners and Customs: Dress.** Megasthenes observed at Pāṭaliputra, that in dress the Indians, for all their general simplicity, showed a partiality for richness and bright colours, liberally using ornaments of gold and gems and flowered muslins, with attendants carrying umbrellas after them.

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Nearchus describes the dress of the Indus people as being of shining cotton and comprising "a tunic down to the middle of their shins, and two other pieces of stuff, one thrown over their shoulders and one twisted round their heads. They wear ear-rings of ivory and shoes of white leather, very elaborately worked, and high-heeled so as to make the wearer seem taller."

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**Diet.** The Greeks were struck by the absence of wine from the Indians' diet. Their staple food was pulpy rice. Each man took his food by himself. There was neither a common meal nor a fixed time for it. At the time of supper, it was served on a table in a gold dish in which was first put rice fully boiled, and, on it, seasoned meats.

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*Marriage.* According to Megasthenes, Indians were known to be polygamous. He refers to brides being purchased for a yoke of oxen. This must be understood to refer to the *Ārsha* form of marriage prescribed by Manu, in which the bride's father was entitled to receive a pair of oxen or cows (*go-mithuna*) as a customary charge (*dharmataḥ*) [Manu III, 29]. According to Nearchus, among certain Indian peoples, girls were secured as prizes of victory in physical feats. Perhaps it was the *Svayaṁvara* Institution.

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*Suttee.* Suttee was seen by the Greeks. Onesicritus saw it among the Kathaioi or the Kaṭhas. Diodorus also states that among the Kathaians prevailed the custom that widows should be burnt along with their husbands [p. 279 in McCrindles' *Invasion of India by Alexander*]. Aristobulus relates that in 316 B.C. an Indian military leader who had gone to Iran to fight under Eumenes, accompanied by his two wives, was unfortunately killed in the battle, whereupon the two wives vied with each other to be the *Satī*. The elder being with child, the other one proceeded to the pyre and "lay down beside her husband. As the fire seized her, no sound of weeping escaped her lips."

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*Funeral.* The Greeks were struck by the absence among Indians of funeral pomp or imposing monuments. The Indians thought that the virtues of the dead were more enduring than brass, as also the songs which were sung over them [*Cambridge History*, I. 412-16].

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Slavery. Megasthenes is the source of the statement of Arrian that "all Indians are free, and not one of them is a slave." In fact, the supposed slavery prevailing in India was of such a mild character and limited extent as compared with the slavery known to the Hellenic world that Megasthenes could not notice its existence. We have besides the injunctions of the *Arthaśāstra* that an *Ārya* was not to be kept in the condition of slavery [III. 13].

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Kauṭilya calls the Śūdra an *Ārya* by birth (*Āryaprāṇa*). He contemplates the possibility of a man selling himself into slavery (*Sakṛidātmādhātā*), children being provided for in that way in times of distress, and also captives of war. But in all such cases it is open to the so called slave under Hindu Law to buy back his freedom by means of earnings which he is permitted to make, irrespective of his earnings in his master's service. Over and above this, there was a provision that his kinsmen could and should redeem him from bondage by payment of ransom. A slave was also entitled to the inheritance of his father. The slave woman who has been taken to her master's bed acquires freedom thereby, as also do her children (*Svāminaḥ svasyāṁ dāsyāṁ jātaṁ samātṛikaṁ adāsaṁ vidyāt*) [*Ib.*].

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Religion. The *Arthaśāstra* mentions the following deities popularly worshipped in those days: (1) Aparājitā (Durgā), (2) Apratihata (Vishṇu), (3) Jayanta (Subrahmaṇya), (4) Vaijayanta (Indra), (5) Śiva, (6) Vaiśravaṇa, (7) Aśvi, (8) Śrī, (9) Madirā [II. 4], (10) Aditi, (11) Anumati, (12) Sarasvatī, (13) Savitā, (14) Agni, (15) Soma [XIV. 1], (16) Kṛishṇa, and (17) Paulomī [XIV. 3].

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Spells and exorcisms formed part of the popular religion of the times. Evil was sought to be warded off by utterance of secret *Mantras* or spells (*aupanishadakam*), so that Brahminical Society might be protected against the attacks of the irreligious (*chāturvarṇya-rakshārtham*). There are mentioned incantations for terrorising the enemy by producing wonders (*adbhutotpātaiḥ*). It is also stated that "the king should protect his own people and injure that of his enemy by the application of *Mantras*, drugs and spells." For these incantations, the inferior deities were invoked such as Bali-Vairochana, Śambara, Devala, Nārada, Manu, Pramilā and the like [XIV. *Ib.*].

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The Brāhmaṇas practised the Vedic religion of sacrifice for which special sylvan retreats were provided [II. 1]. In the royal palace was provided a separate place for the performance of sacrifice (*ijyāsthānam*). Ascetics of various types were abroad. They are described as *Siddhatāpasa-pravrajita*, while there was Tapovana for the *Tapasvī* [IV. 4; II. 1].

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Among the heretical sects are mentioned the *Śākyas* and *Ājīvikas* [III. 20]. Their entertainment was banned.

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It will thus appear that Kauṭilya knows more of Vedic religion, sacrifice, deities, and the Atharvavedic rites and spells than of later classical Hindu deities and religious practices.

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