Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c10: Chapter VI. The Jâtakas

The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c10

Language
English

Contents

Chapter VI. The Jâtakas

c10.2.1

The literary productions of the Brâhmaṇas—the Dharma Sûtras, the Epics and later, the Dharma Śâstras—studiously ignore the heretical movements which had arisen or were flourishing contemporaneously. Each school follows its own tradition in a cloister or grove. None can be taken as an exact reflection of the totality of political circumstances in any given epoch. The Brahmanic data are usefully supplemented by Buddhist tradition. The faith of Gautama Buddha whose career lay between the sixth and fifth centuries before Christ first took root in Magadha. There as in some neighbouring districts Brahmanic influence was less strong than anywhere else in North India. In the orthodox computation, Kâśi and Magadha are excluded from Brahmarṣideśa. Manu includes Magadhas and Videhas in his list of mixed castes.¹ In the course of a few centuries the Buddhists had produced a literature which challenges comparison with that of the Brâhmaṇas. The word of the Buddha, according to the orthodox tradition, is contained in the Tripiṭaka or the Three Baskets: (1) Sutta, comprising the five Nikâyas or collections, (2) Vinaya, giving rules of monastic life for monks and nuns in five works, the Pâtimokkha, Mahâvagga, Cullavagga, Suttavibhaṅga and Parivara and (3) Abhidhamma, comparatively inferior, which discusses metaphysics in seven compendiums.

c10.2.2

This extensive canon exists in two versions: (1) in Pâli, the hieratic language of the Buddhists of Ceylon, Siam and Burma, and (2) in Sanskrit or ‘mixed’ Sanskrit, the sacred idiom of Buddhism in Nepâl, Tibet, and, in a way, also China and Japan. The dates of these works, however, are as doubtful as those of the Brahmanical Sûtras or Epics. Rhys Davids, who relied chiefly on the Pâli canon and tradition, worked on the hypothesis that the four Nikâyas—the Dîgha or Long, the Majjhima or Middle, Saṃyutta or Miscellaneous and Aṅguttara or Numerical—representing the sayings of the Buddha, were put together, “out of older material at a period about half-way between the death of the Buddha, and the accession of Aśoka,” that is, in the fourth century B.C. Other sayings, ascribed mostly to the Buddha’s disciples, were put into a supplementary fifth Nikâya, the Khuddaka or minor collection, to which additions were made as late as the reign of Aśoka. On the whole, both Rhys Davids and Oldenberg referred the Vinaya and Sutta Piṭakas to about the fourth century B.C. But the scheme is no longer accepted. The dates of the Buddhist councils themselves, including that of the third one believed to have been held under the auspices of Aśoka about 247 B.C., have been called in question.¹ The chronology of the Ceylonese tradition is now almost entirely set aside.

c10.2.3

It is argued that the whole Buddhist canon is posterior to Aśoka and could not have taken shape prior to the second or first century before Christ. Sylvain Lévi and others have shown that the Pâli idiom itself, in which the southern canon is composed, did not arise till sometime after Aśoka. The great Mauryan emperor does not use it in his Edicts. The Buddha as well as his contemporary Mahâvira, the founder or renovator of Jainism, must have preached in some Prâkṛit language, Mâgadhî or Ardha-Mâgadhî. It is impossible to assign any more specific dates to Buddhist scriptures. It is certain that they do not represent the work of a single mind or generation. It is also certain that the Pâli version is earlier than the Sanskrit.¹ The political data which this literature can be pressed to yield have therefore to be used with the utmost caution. Generally, they fall into two classes, either furnishing the names of old states, kings or ministers and recording their deeds, or incidentally reflecting the working of institutions. Facts of the former character are best reserved for treatment in connection with regular political history. The inferential data must be dealt with like those of the Mahâbhârata and the Râmâyaṇa. They are particularly abundant in that portion of the Khuddaka Nikâya which gives the Jâtakas, the 547 stories of the Buddha’s previous births and which is one of the noblest monuments of Buddhist literature.

c10.2.4

Tradition will have it that these stories were taken by the royal missionary Mahinda to Ceylon during the reign of Aśoka in the third century B.C. They were translated from the Pâli into Simhalese and back into Pâli by Buddhaghośa in the fifth century A.D. It is in this translation of a translation that the Jâtakas have come down to us. In accordance with the tradition they were long believed to mirror the thought and conditions which prevailed before the time of the Buddha. Richard Fick assigned them, as a whole, to the age of Buddha, remarking that "many of the Jâtakas are undoubtedly very old and belong, so far as their origin is concerned, to the pre-Buddhistic period."' Rhys Davids inclines definitely to the pre-Buddhistic period.² In the last generation of scholars, Max Müller alone perceived that for the text of the Jâtakas we must, strictly speaking, be satisfied with the time of Vattagâmani, 88—76 B.C.³ In the light of the latest researches, the position may be summed up in the words of Keith: "The Jâtaka book is a strange conglomeration of old and new verses with new prose; some of its tales, as we know from Buddhist sculpture and a stray citation or two, go back to the Aśokan epoch or shortly after; as folklore its contents are often of undeniable age, but as Buddhist fables their antiquity is uncertain."⁴ So, the Jâtaka material is to be treated as partly pre-Mauryan and partly post-Mauryan.

c10.2.5

It pertains primarily to Magadha, and the districts round Benares, though, incidentally, it throws light on

c10.3

¹ Manu, X, 5 et seq. Pargiter suggests that in Magadha, the Aryans met and mixed with a body of invaders from the east by sea (J.R.A.S., 1908, pp. 851-53.) But there is no convincing evidence on the point. According to the Jâtakas, Aṅga and Magadha are conterminous. (II, 211.) On the boundaries of Madhyadeśa see Vinaya Piṭaka, I, 197; Manu, II, 21.

c10.4

¹ On the Buddhist Councils see in particular de la Vallée Poussin, Ind. Ant., XXXVII, pp. 1 et seq.; 81 et seq.

c10.5

¹ On the whole subject, Rhys Davids, Preface to the Dialogues of the Buddha (Sacred Books of the Buddhists), particularly pp. IX—XXII. For his vews as well as those of Oldenberg, also S. B. E., Vol. XI, p. X, Vol. XIII, p. XXIII. Rhys Davids, Questions of King Milinda, I, XXXVII et seq. Cambridge History of India, Vol. I, pp. 192—97. G. K. Nariman, Literary History of Sanskrit Buddhism (from Winternitz, Sylvain Lévi, Hüber). Sylvain Lévi holds that the Vinaya of the Sanskrit canon was first codified in the third or fourth century after Christ. Kern holds that Pâli was never a spoken language but was an altogether artificial idiom. See also Oldenberg, Introduction to Vinaya Piṭakam, Vol. I, pp. LIV-LV.

c10.6

¹ Fick, Social Organisation in North-Eastern India in Buddha's time, tr. Maitra, pp. IX—X.

c10.7

² Rhys Davids, Buddhist India, p 207.

c10.8

³ Max Müller, Sacred Books of the Buddhists, Vol. I, Preface, p. V.

c10.9

⁴ Keith, Buddhist Philosophy, p. 22.

c10.10

The Jâtakas have been arranged into twenty-two nipâtas, not according to their contents, but according to the number of gâthâs or verses occurring therein. The first nipâta has 150 stories, the second 100, the third and fourth 50 each, while the others have much fewer. King Brahmadatta of Benares figures in numerous stories, which may have first arisen in or near the sacred town.

c10.11

For Jâtaka illustrations in the Bas-reliefs on the Bharahut Stûpa, Oldenberg, J. H. D. S., 1897. See also M. Chas. Duroiselle, Pictorial Representations of Jâtakas in Burma, Ann. Rep., Arch. Sur., Ind., 1912-13, pp. 87—119. Hultzsch, Jâtaka at Bharahut, J.R.A.S., 1912, pp. 399—411.

c10.12

regions as far as Takkasilâ on the north-western frontier of India.

c10.13

Little need be said here of Buddhist social or political theory. On the whole, it is more liberal than the Brahmanical. It could not ignore the deep-rooted institution of caste but it refuses to set very much store by it. It does not believe in the age-long Brahmanic supremacy. It confers no privileges on Brâhmaṇas. It does not constantly advise the king to enforce the principles of the established social order. Buddhist literature habitually places Kṣatriyas before Brâhmaṇas.¹ For political philosophy the Jâtakas are not particularly valuable. Their utility consists in the light which they throw on contemporary social, economic and political circumstances. The Jâtaka material has been worked out from the economic standpoint by Mrs. Rhys Davids² and from a broad social standpoint by Richard Fick.³ But at least from the political point of view there is room for further research and fresh conclusions.

c10.14

¹ For the Buddhist fanciful golden age, its degeneration and the consequent rise of the family, private property and state, see Agaṇṇa Suttanta, Dîgha Nikâya, Vol. III, Section 27; Mahâvastu ed. Senart, I, 347-48; Rockhill, ‘Life of the Buddha . . . derived from Tibetan works in the Bkah Hgyur and Bstan Hgyur,’ pp. 1--7. Cf. the Burmese Damathat, tr. Richardson, p. 7. Also Spence Hardy, Manual of Buddhism, p. 68. For Buddhist attitude towards caste, Dîgha Nikâya, III, 1, 15; III, 1, 24; Majjhima Nikâya, 90, Kaṇṇakathala Sutta 84; Madhura Sutta; Cullavagga, IX, 1, 4. Dhammapada, Ch. XXVI, tr. Max Müller, 90 - 96. Udânavarga, tr. Rockhill, Ch. XXXIII. Nidânakathâ, I, 49. Rhys Davids, Dialogues of the Buddha, 114-17, 119-22, 144-59. For general political theory, also Lalitavistara, particularly, 14-15, 103, 131, 136. Âryadeva, Catuḥśataka Śâstra (P L. Vaidya, Études sur Âryadeva et son Catuḥśataka, H. P. Śâstrî, Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. III, No. 8, pp. 449-514).

c10.15

² J. R. A. S., 1901.

c10.16

³ Social Organisation in North-east India in Buddha's time.

c10.17

That caste with its appendage of outcaste prevailed in the country is clear from the Jâtakas. In the Setaketu Jātaka (III, 233) a Brāhmaṇa runs away from a Caṇḍāla and seeks atmospheric purification. In the Mātaṅga Jātaka (IV, 388) a Brāhmaṇa ascetic finds a tooth-pick, thrown by a Caṇḍāla up the river, caught in a tuft of his hair. "Damn you," he cries, "wretched Caṇḍāla, you bird of evil omen, you shall not live here any longer, move your dwelling down the river."

c10.18

In the next, Citta Sambhūta Jātaka (IV, 391-2), two Caṇḍāla brothers are beaten almost to death because at their sight two high-class maidens abandon a visit which, incidentally, would have brought food and drink gratis to the people.¹ The unfortunate men disguise themselves as Brāhmaṇas and go to Takkasilā for study, but when their birth is discovered they are again thrashed. (See also IV, 388.) In IV, 144, a Kṣatriya can't eat with his daughter by a slave, and a discussion is raised whether the children of a Kṣatriya by a low-caste woman are to be treated as Kṣatriyas. At one moment it is recognised that the family of the mother does not matter, that of the father alone is important. In I, 134, a woman who gathered wood is installed as Aggamahesi, chief queen, and the vicegerency is conferred on her son. Considerations of caste rule marriage (IV, 376, III, 422, III, 162, IV, 22, III, 93, I, 199, II, 121, II, 225). In IV, 231, a princess descends from a tree to meet an ascetic prince only when she is assured that he is a Kṣatriya and can recite the Kṣatriya formula. On the other hand, a king offers his daughter in marriage to a Brāhmaṇa ascetic (III, 517). In III, 27, a Caṇḍāla wins the favour of a king by pointing out the impropriety of the latter's occupying a seat higher than that of the priest who was explaining the Veda to him. The Caṇḍāla is made king of the night, that is, town sentinel, nagaraguttika.

c10.19

¹ For another similar incident, IV, 378.

c10.20

In III, 194 sq., the Purohita of a Benares king, after a self-imposed test, comes to the conclusion that virtue is better than learning, that birth and caste cause conceit . . . Khattiya (Kṣatriya), Brāhmaṇa, Vessa (Vaiśya), Sudda (Śūdra), Caṇḍāla and Pukkusa will all be equal in the world of the gods, if they have acted virtuously here. Ambā Jātaka (IV, 205) also says that among members of all the six divisions he is the best from whom one can learn what is right. In Tittira Jātaka (I, 217), the Buddha, after an untoward incident asks the assembly of monks, “Who deserves to have the best quarters, the best water, the best food?” Some replied, “He who was a Kṣatriya before he became initiated.” Others replied, “He who was a Brāhmaṇa or a Gahapati.” The Buddha, however, would not recognise the claims of birth at all. The caste rules of professions are often violated. There are, of course, numerous ‘world-renowned’ Brāhmaṇa teachers, surrounded by crowds of, say, 500 pupils each (I, 166, 239, 299, 317, 402, 436 ; II, 137, 260, 421, III, 215), but Brāhmaṇas also work as land-owners (III, 293 ; IV, 276), agriculturists (II, 165 ; III, 163 ; V, 68), merchants (IV, 7, 15 ; V, 22, 471), archers (V, 127), hunters and tappers (II, 200; VI, 170), wheel-wrights (IV, 207). Many Brāhmaṇas accumulate vast amounts of wealth (II, 272 ; III, 39 ; VI, 15, 22, 28, 237, 325 ; V, 227).¹ Brāhmaṇas sometimes eat with Kṣatriyas (II, 319-20). Aristocrats themselves sometimes act as traders or servants (II, 87 ; IV, 84, 169).

c10.21

¹ Cf. Vāseṭṭh Sutta, No. 35 of the Sutta Nipāta.

c10.22

In the Dasabrāhmaṇa Jātaka a debate between two young men on birth or action as the basis of caste is referred to Gautama who declares that the followers of pastoral, agricultural, industrial, commercial or martial pursuits could not be called Brāhmaṇas. The obvious

c10.23

Brahma nic supremacy questioned.

c10.24

allusion is to those who claimed Brahmanic privileges on the score of caste though they had renounced scholastic or priestly callings. In many stories, for instance, in the Sambhava Jātaka, V, 27, Juṇha Jātaka, IV, 96, Brāhmaṇas play a rather ignominious role. (Also in I, 425, IV, 484.) On the other hand, the Buddhists themselves occasionally laid emphasis on birth. In the Nidānakathā (I, 2) the first Bodhisatta is Brāhmaṇa of good family, on both sides, up to the seventh generation. The Jambukhādaka Jātaka (II, 438) speaks of descent as implying nobility.

c10.25

The rule of Āśramas or the four stages of life stands on a footing with that of caste. It is held to be binding (II, 85, 394; III, 147, 352), but it is not observed in all its strictness. Apart from the probability that numberless persons might have undergone no ‘studentship,’ nor ever resorted to renunciation, the order of the Āśramas is often violated. There are instances of Brāhmaṇas who take to asceticism on reaching adolescence (I, 333, 343, 361, 373, 450; II, 131, 232, 257, 262; III, 110; IV, 325). In many cases the completion of studies is immediately followed up by renunciation (II, 53, 56, 72, 85; III, 64, 79, 110, 119, 228, 249, 308; V, 152, 193). There are instances of parents offering the alternatives of family life and renunciation to their sons. A Brāhmaṇa boy in his 16th year is thus addressed by his parents, “Son, on the day of your birth we lit a birth-fire for you. Now therefore choose. If you wish to lead a family life, learn the three Vedas; but if you wish to attain to the Brahma realm, take your fire with you into the forest and there tend it, so as to win Mahā-Brahma’s favour and hereafter to enter into the Brahma realm.” The latter alternative was preferred by the boy (I, 494). In II, 43, there occurs an almost identical incident. The third stage is often passed over (II, 41, 145, 269; 437; III, 45). The birth of a son, is sometimes the signal of renunciation to Brâhmaṇas and others (III, 300-301; IV, 220). Untoward happenings sometimes led to the same result. A son of a hunter chief and a daughter of another hunter chief were married against their will. Both turned ascetics (IV, 72). On his parents' death, a Brâhmaṇa forsakes the world (II, 314; also 411). Another does the same on the death of his wife (III, 147). The vogue of renunciation sometimes disturbed political arrangements. A prince turns an ascetic as he is to be consecrated king after the usual processions (IV, 492 et seq.). Elsewhere two princes, bent on renunciation, are earnestly exhorted by their parents to stick to the world but in vain (IV, 121-22). There are other cases of princes spurning all earthly dominion and glory and taking to renunciation (III, 31).

c10.26

In the Jâtakas there is a ruling class, consisting primarily of Kṣatriyas, which stands above all and which typifies the state. Its members are not to be addressed by name or in the second person by people of low castes. In his pride a king calls a Purohita's son Hīnajacca, ‘of low birth’ (V, 257). For the primacy of the ruling class, I, 177; III, 19; IV, 42, 205, 303, V, 123). Purohitas or their sons, however, are admitted to intimacy with kings, princes and aristocrats (I, 437, 289; II, 47, 282, 376, 437; III, 31, 317, 392, 417, 455; IV, 200, 270; V, 127; VI, 330). Others are also sometimes admitted into the high circle. Thus Prince Brahmadatta and Mahâdhana, son of a rich merchant, are comrades and playmates and are brought up with the same teachers. On succeeding to the throne, Brahmadatta receives Mahâdhana thrice a day. When the latter, losing faith in his courtezan, renounces the world, the king summons “the wicked, vile woman” and commands her to “go quickly to where my friend is and fetch him; if you fail, your life is forfeit” (III, 476).

c10.27

The Ruling Class.

c10.28

Kṣatriyas generally wielded the sceptre but non-Kṣatriya kingship was not altogether unknown. Thus in Jātaka, I, 326, the expulsion of a tyrannical king is followed by the elevation of a Brāhmaṇa to the throne. Similarly, in the Padakusalamānava Jātaka (III, 513) a Brāhmaṇa who instigates a revolt against a thievish king and thus brings about his death is installed king (see also II, 264 et seq.).

c10.29

Non-Kṣatriya Kingship.

c10.30

The sons of aristocratic families were educated, along with Brāhmaṇa youths, at Takkasilā on the north-western frontier. It seems to have been one of the most notable seats of learning in ancient India. On the basis of contemporary Greek accounts, Pliny states that the town itself was situated on a level where the hills sink down into the plain. Strabo praises the soil as extremely fertile from the number of its springs and water-courses. In Ptolemy’s geography it is called Taxiala, probably from the Sanskrit Takṣaśilā, hewn stone or Takṣaśilā, i.e., rock of Takṣaka, the Nāga king, though others take it to be derived from the Takkas, a powerful tribe which probably occupied the regions between the Indus and the Chenāb. It seems to have been an extremely rich town. There is a myth in a Jātaka that a Benares king attacked Takkasilā, but amazed at the rich glory of its gate tower which he fancied to be the king’s residence, he abandoned the expedition (II, 217-8). Jaina literature, which contains numerous references to Takkasilā, shows that it was at one time adorned with vast numbers of Jaina edifices.

c10.31

Takkasilā.

c10.32

Here were established a large number of teachers who taught for fees and sometimes gratis. On his arrival at Takkasilā, a Benares prince encounters his future teacher, as the latter is walking to and fro after finishing his teaching. The young man at once takes off his shoes, removes his umbrella, and stands saluting him with respect. The teacher welcomes him and, after he is refreshed, inquires, “Where do you come from?” “From Benares.” “Whose son are you?” “The son of the king of Benares.” “For what purpose have you come?” “For the purpose of learning the science.” “Have you brought your âcariyabhâga (teacher’s honorarium) or do you wish to become a dhammantevâsika?” “I have brought honorarium for the teacher.” Forthwith the prince placed a purse of a 1,000 gold pieces at his feet. That seems to have been the usual fee (Tilamuṭṭhi Jâtaka, II, 278). Those who paid the fee were treated like the eldest sons in houses. Besides the fees from pupils, the teachers of Takkasilâ received invitations and presents from the neighbouring folk (III, 171).¹

c10.33

¹ For Takkasilâ, Takṣaśilâ or Taxila, see McCrindle, Invasion of India by Alexander the Great, p. 342; India as described in Classical Literature, Strabo, pp. 33-34. Also J R. A. S., XX, p.

c10.34

Hither flocked the sons of kings, aristocrats, priests and plutocrats for education.² Sometimes, indeed, princes were educated at home. In the Gâmaṇicaṇḍa Jâtaka (II, 297), a king himself instructs the prince in the three Vedas and in all worldly duties. The Tilamuṭṭhi Jâtaka (II, 277), however, says that “the kings sent their sons, although in their own city there lived a world-renowned teacher, to a great distance over the borders of the kingdom for learning the sciences, and they thought, in this way their pride and haughtiness will be broken, they will learn

c10.35

² For instances of princes going to Takkasilâ, I, 273; II, 319, 323, 400; III, 158, 163, 415, 463; IV, 315; V, 161. For wealthy Brâhmaṇas, sometimes worth 80 crores each, sending their sons to Takkasilâ, I, 463, 505, 510; II, 53, 56, 85; III, 39, 64, 158, 219, 428, 194, 228, 341, 352, 400, 403, 497; IV, 22, 74, 200, 224; V, 247, 263. For sons of plutocrats, III, 375; IV, 475.

c10.36

Young Aristocrat and Priests at Takkasila.

c10.37

³⁴³ Ann. Rep. Arch. Surv. Ind., 1914-15, Marshall, pp. 1--35; Sukthankar, pp. 36--41; Marshall, Ibid., 1912-13, pp. 1-52; Ibid., 1915-16, pp. 1--38. K. de B. Codrington, Ancient India, etc., 47--49; also pp. 49--56 for the contemporary Gandhâran art and sculpture. Marshall, a Guide to Taxila, second edition, Calcutta, 1921. For a seventh century notice, Yuan Chwang, Watters, I, 240.

c10.38

to bear heat and cold, and learn also the ways of the world.” Here a king gives his son only a pair of sandals with simple soles, a sunshade made of leaves and 1,000 kahāpaṇas and sends him to rough it out at Takkasilā (Cf. V, 457). The journey to Takkasilā itself lay through forests (I, 395). Some adventurous youths were not satisfied with the usual experiences. A prince and a Purohita’s son, after finishing their education at Takkasilā, wander about to observe various local usages (V, 247). It was generally at the age of sixteen that princes joined Takkasilā (I, 259, 262, 273; II, 2, 87, 277; III, 122, etc.). Probably they had already received some literary and military instruction at home. There are, however, cases of princes completing their education at sixteen and not resorting to Takkasilā at all (e.g., I, 261). The education of a prince was a comprehensive one. In I, 259, and III, 115, the three Vedas and eighteen branches of learning are mentioned as subjects of study. In II, 87, a Benares prince learns the three Vedas, archery and eighteen accomplishments at Takkasilā. Elsewhere, too, (III, 122, 158), we can see the princes and Brāhmaṇas studying together. In II, 100, the son of a wealthy Brāhmaṇa learns charms at Takkasilā and then teaches them to Brāhmaṇa and Kṣatriya youths. At Takkasilā every student studied under a teacher and had to attend on him. If he offended, he could be punished, even corporally. A Benares prince, so treated, vows vengeance and, on ascending the throne, contrives almost to kill his teacher, though, later, he makes ample amends for it (II, 278 et seq.).

c10.39

In the Jātakas the king is a despot. Different stories imply different theories of the foundation of his power. Once a Yakkhinī (Yakṣiṇī) who becomes the favourite consort of a king solicits from him the boon of unrestricted power over his dominion. “My love,”

c10.40

The King.

c10.41

replies the king, "in no way do all the subjects of my kingdom belong to me, nor am I their lord; only over those who rise against the king and do wrong am I lord. Therefore I cannot give you unrestricted power over the whole kingdom" (I, 398). Here the king is the guardian and censor rather than the master of his subjects and is not supposed to be capable of dealing with the kingdom as he likes. But elsewhere a king is prepared of his own accord to make over his kingdom to an ascetic (III, 80, also 353). In another curious story, when the queen-mother falls in love with the Purohita, the king makes the latter king, his own mother queen and himself acts as viceroy (III, 392). Once a king actually divides his kingdom with a poor man and the two rule in harmony and friendship until the new half-king embraces asceticism (III, 448-49). In these stories the kingdom is looked upon almost as private property which can be partitioned or surrendered at will. Both the different conceptions may be true of the different places or times.

c10.42

The character of the despotism varied according to the personal equation. The Dasarājadhamme or ten duties of the king (III, 274, 320) comprise charity, moral rectitude, sacrifice, truthfulness, mildness, self-denial, forgiveness, not to cause any pain to anybody, patience, a yielding disposition. In the Jātakas, kings are often just, righteous, merciful and charitable. But a king could sometimes be a whimsical tyrant who, as a Jātaka (II, 240) puts it, "oppresses and puts down his subjects by punishments, taxes, torture and robbery, as one pounds sugar in a sugar mill, who is as odious to them as a particle of dust in the eye, as a particle of sand in the rice or as a thorn that has pierced the hand." An oppressive king sucks the country dry of all wealth (IV, 224). Another capricious tyrant took a dislike to all old

c10.43

The character of monarchical rule.

c10.44

things and made cruel sport of old men and women (II, 142). Another seized the wife of a hermit though he restored her later (IV, 23). Numerous other cases of tyranny can be cited (II, 122, 169, 391; III, 178, 454; V, 98). Sometimes the merits of spiritual or temporal ministers could make up for the defects of a king (III, 317) but in the absence of any constitutional check the ultimate remedy for oppression lay in revolt and assassination. In the Saccamkira Jātaka (I, 326) a king is driven out of the town by the enraged Kṣatriyas, Brāhmaṇas and others who instal a Brāhmaṇa on the throne. In the Padakusalamāṇava Jātaka (III, 513) a Brāhmaṇa discovers that a king and his priest have stolen and concealed a precious treasure. He contrives to get the people together and proclaims aloud:—

c10.45

Revolt.

c10.46

“Let town and countryfolk assembled all give ear,
“Lo, water is ablaze. From safety cometh fear.
The plundered realm may well of king and priest complain.
Henceforth protect yourselves. Your refuge proves your bane.” The people thought, “the king, though he ought to have protected others, threw the blame on another. . . . That he may not in future go on playing the part of a thief, we will kill this wicked king.” “So they rose up with sticks and clubs in their hands, and then and there beat the king and the priest till they died.” The Brāhmaṇa, responsible for all this, was proclaimed king. Another king is persuaded by a hypocritical Purohita to sacrifice his queens, sons, best horses and bulls so that he might go to heaven. The plot is frustrated and only Sakka, the god of gods, prevents the multitude from killing the king. The people agree to spare his life, “but,” they decide, “we will not give him rule or dwelling in this city—we will make him an outcast and appoint his dwelling outside this city.” So they stripped him of his royal garments, made him wear a yellow dress, put a yellow cloth on

c10.47

his head, and having made him an outcast sent him away to an outcast settlement. But the prince continued to attend to his wants there (VI, 146 et seq.). Elsewhere a significant tradition is recorded that a king who violated righteousness was swallowed up by flames from the earth and his sons had to leave the city (III, 458 et seq.).

c10.48

In the Jâtakas the hereditary succession and primogeniture are firmly established (I, 127, 395; II, 87, 116, 212; IV, 124, 176). In Thusa Jâtaka (III, 121) a prince imprisoned for treason is set at liberty on the death of his father and duly placed on the throne. So not even treason, one of the darkest of crimes in ancient India, was deemed serious enough for a departure from the rule. In Succaja Jâtaka (III, 67) a king says to the prince, "My dear son, so long as I am living, you shall not live in the town; remove your residence elsewhere and accept the reins of government after my death." A few similar incidents occur elsewhere in the Jâtakas (II, 203, 229; VI, 158) It appears, however, that in certain localities or periods reflected in the Jâtakas, a slightly different practice prevailed. The hereditary principle was qualified by that of capacity. In II, 297, the ministers tell a rather young prince that he will be consecrated only on satisfying certain tests which pertain to the administration of justice. In the Pâdañjali Jâtaka (II, 264) King Brahmadatta of Benares—the usual Jâtaka hero—leaves a stupid son behind. The ministers propose to instal him on the throne, but the Bodhisatta, who happened to be the late king's spiritual and temporal adviser, said "the prince is a fool and a good-for-nothing fellow; we will first examine him and then instal him as king." The nature of the test proposed shows that the king must, above all, be qualified to administer faultless justice. The ministers held two courts and gave once the correct and

c10.49

once an incorrect judgment, but the prince, incapable of distinguishing between the two, only bit his lips both times. "This man," said the Bodhisatta, "does not know right from wrong, or good from bad; beyond the biting of his lips he knows nothing." So the ministers consecrated the Bodhisatta himself, a Brāhmaṇa, to the kingship. In such cases the ministers are the judges of the capacity to rule and can deal comparatively freely with the crown. In any case acute physical incapacity was regarded a disqualification for the kingship. In spite of protests a king gives his eyes to a Brāhmaṇa and then thinks, "What has a blind man to do with ruling? I will hand over my kingdom to the courtiers, and go into my park and become an ascetic and live as a holy man" (IV, 407 et seq.) Another king struck with leprosy similarly departs into the forest (V, 88). The people in the Jātakas are extremely anxious to make sure of the regular succession When after their earnest prayers to the deities the queen-consort of a childless king gets a son, they exclaim, "We were before helpless, now we have a help, we have obtained a lord" (VI, 1). In another tale when a monogamous king had no son, the townsfolk gathered together in the palace courtyard and raised a howl. "What is it?" asked the king "Fault we have none to find," said they, "but this that you have no son to keep up your line. You have but one queen, yet a royal prince should have 16,000 at the least. Choose a company of women, my lord, some worthy wife will bring you a son." The king, however, refused to flinch from his previous promise of monogamy. Then the queen herself presented to him 1,000 Kṣatriya maidens, 1,000 Mahāmatta maidens, 1,000 gahapati maidens, and 1,000 dancing girls. Later, she presented another host of 12,000 women to the king (IV, 316 et seq.) In another story, all decency, morality and prestige are thrown to the winds in order to obtain a son to succeed to the throne (V, 279 et seq.)

c10.50

Royal idiosyncrasies could sometimes disturb the rule of primogeniture. A Benares king gives a province to each of his hundred sons as his education at the hands of a courtier is finished. The youngest, Saṃvara, however, chooses to live at court. The ministers ask the king on his death-bed, "When you are dead . . . to whom shall we give the White Umbrella?" "Friends," replies the king, "all my sons have a right to the White Umbrella. But you may give it to him that pleases your mind." On the seventh day after the king's death, the courtiers uplift the White Umbrella with its festoons of gold over the youngest prince. On hearing of his accession, his ninety-nine brothers say, "He is the youngest of all; the Umbrella does not belong to him. Let us lift the Umbrella over the eldest of us all." They besiege the capital but Saṃvara offers to divide his wealth among them. Peace is concluded and Saṃvara is recognised (IV, 131 et seq.). In another story, the elder prince at first declines the kingdom but later demands it and gets it from his younger brother who had been reigning in the meanwhile (IV, 168 et seq.). In IV, 84, a kingdom is divided among ten brothers. One of them gives his share to their sister, only stipulating that he should receive the taxes due to him. These stories may relate to a period or a locality in which the practice of primogeniture was arising but was not yet fully established. Elsewhere in the Jâtakas a king resists the importunity of his queen to give the kingdom to their son, because the latter is 'ill-luck.' Not even temporarily for some years or some months or some weeks but only for a single week would he place him on the throne. The prince's seven days' sovereignty is proclaimed throughout the city by beat of drum. He is led round the city triumphantly on an elephant under an umbrella, but on the sixth day his father has him beheaded (VI, 10 et seq.).

c10.51

On failure of sons, the crown seems to have gone to the eldest of the younger brothers of a king (I, 133; II, 367). In certain contingencies in the absence of direct heirs, the crown seems to go to the son-in-law of a king (II, 323). In no circumstances is the crown formally placed on the head of a woman. There is an incidental statement that "infamous . . . is the land which owns a woman's sway and rule; and infamous are the men who yield themselves to women's dominion" (I, 155). Women, however, did sometimes wield the actual sovereignty. In IV, 105, on Udaya's death no king was set up, the commands of his widow Udayabhaddâ were promulgated and the Mahâmattas administered the kingdom. In IV, 84, a brother gives his own share—one-tenth of a kingdom—to his sister but we are not told that the latter was duly crowned. In a few stories the crown is offered to whomsoever the people think fit (e.g., I, 399). Once on the tragic death of a king of Takkasilâ, the Bodhisatta who happened to be the youngest of the hundred sons of Brahmadatta of Benares, is elected king by the courtiers and citizens who admire his self-control. In another story a childless king and his Purohita vow that if either gets a son, he should succeed to the kingdom and to the wealth of both. Thanks to a deity, the Purohita got four sons. But in spite of all possible precautions, the four young men renounce their claims to the sceptre and turn ascetic one after another (IV, 473). It is, however, significant that this story recognises the validity of a king willing the crown out of the royal family.

c10.52

If the succession was altogether unsettled, recourse was had, perhaps only in some out-of-the way regions, to a strange procedure. Seven days after the death of an heirless king, the Purohita let a festal car, the phussaratha, be driven with the five insignia of royalty placed on it. "It will come to the man who will become the king." The man whom

c10.53

Choice by the festal car.

c10.54

the car singled out by stopping near him was made king (III, 238; IV, 39; V, 248). Once fortune favoured a poor woman's son born in the street (IV, 38). This method might sometimes be combined with another. A king on his death-bed leaves the succession to the will of his daughter who is approached by the various officers but she rejects them all and proposes three tests. Meanwhile, the Purohita and the ministers let out the festal car. It selects the Bodhisatta who also satisfies the three tests of the princess and becomes king (VI, 31 et seq.).

c10.55

The whole problem of the succession was complicated by premature ambitions, jealousies and the vogue of renunciation. A prince, acting as viceroy, conspires against the king, his elder brother. When discovered he flies to a frontier district and demands the umbrella or a battle. In the ensuing war the king is slain (VI, 31). Another prince appointed viceroy grows impatient of the crown, conspires and murders the king (V, 263 et seq.). A sixteen-year-old prince tries various expedients to kill his father. When detected, he is imprisoned (III, 122 et seq., also 216). A prince-governor comes to the capital, Benares, to pay his respects to his father. The latter thinks, "This fellow may do me wrong, if he gets an opportunity." So he tells him, "As long as I live, you cannot dwell in this city. Live somewhere else, and at my death bear rule in the kingdom." The prince obeys and leaves Benares with his chief wife (III, 67). In another story too horrible to relate, a Benares king, afraid that his wife might grow too proud of their little son, has the seven-month-old baby torn to pieces, bit by bit, in the presence of his weeping mother (III, 179). A suspicious king exiles all his sons (II, 116). On the death of a king, the eldest prince succeeds to the throne in the regular order and the younger becomes Uparâjan but he grows arrogant as the astrologers have foretold universal dominion for his son. A command is issued for his arrest but he flies to the forest (IV, 230 et seq.). In another story the elder prince at first declines the kingdom but later demands it and gets it from his younger brother who had been reigning in the meanwhile (IV, 168 et seq.). Moral delinquency sometimes went against a prince. Thus a prince who refused to give up strong drink was banished (V, 467). On the other hand, the sway of the gospel of renunciation sometimes led kings to instal their sons on the throne and themselves to retire into the forest (V, 161-62). In VI, 95 et seq., a barber points out the appearance of grey hair on the head of a king. The latter forthwith instals his son on the throne, rewards the barber with a village and retires into the forest. Sometimes a prince, caring ‘nothing for glory,’ would voluntarily decline the crown in favour of a younger brother, though he may still awaken jealousies (II, 87). In an interesting story a king invites his brother suddenly found out, to come and reign as king (V, 22 et seq.). There are numerous instances, of kings abdicating in favour of their sons and of young princes prematurely following the path of renunciation and refusing consecration (I, 138 ; III, 364, 393, 515 ; IV, 7 ; V, 177). There are other cases of young princes being persuaded only with the greatest difficulty to assume the sceptre (IV, 105).

c10.56

In some localities or periods, the new king had to be accepted by the people. A wicked prince who is advised in vain by counsellors, Brâhmaṇas and citizens to mend his ways is at last thus threatened by the Bodhisatta, “the people of the kingdom, dreading what a prince so fierce and passionate may become when king, will not place you on the throne but uproot you . . . and drive you forth to exile” (I, 507).

c10.57

Consecration was an important ceremony in the age of the Jâtakas. As in Brahmanical literature, the Purohita sprinkled the king-designate with water and so raised him high above ordinary mortals (III, 239; IV, 40). In III, 408, the ministers, Brāhmaṇas, gahapatis, citizens and dancing girls, stand round the throne at a distance from each other. In the Pañcaguru Jātaka (I, 470), the Bodhisatta accepting the kingdom at the people's hands, enters the town, decorated in heavenly style. and passes “into the spacious hall of the palace and there seated himself . . . on his jewelled throne beneath the white umbrella of his kingship. Round him in glittering splendour stood his ministers and Brāhmaṇas and nobles, whilst sixteen thousand nautch girls, fair as the nymphs of heaven, sang and danced and made music, till the palace was loud with sounds like the ocean when the storm bursts in thunder on the waves.”

c10.58

The consecration and its pomp are well-described in the Ayoghava Jātaka (IV, 492 et seq.) “What is my son's age?” asks a king. “He is sixteen years old,” reply the courtiers. The king determines to make over the realm to the prince who is brought out. The whole city is decorated from end to end. “They decked out the state elephant in magnificent caparison, and dressed the boy in his best, and placed him upon the elephant's back,” saying, “My lord, make a circuit rightwise about the rejoicing city, your inheritance, and salute your father the king of Kāsī; for this day you shall receive the White Umbrella.” After the procession the prince stood before the king. “What do you wish us to do?” asked the courtiers. “Take my son,” replied the king, “and put him on a pile of jewels, sprinkle him from the three conches, uplift the White Umbrella with its festoons of gold” (IV, 492 et seq.)

c10.59

There are other pictures of festivities, dramatic performances, etc., on the occasion of a prince's marriage or accession. The rejoicings were often signalised by a release of prisoners (V, 282 et seq.)

c10.60

The king lived in great splendour. Once we see him “seated in majesty and splendour beneath a white canopy of sovereignty upon a throne of gold with legs as of a gazelle . . .” (I, 267). On return from expeditions, he generally goes in solemn procession round the city and then enters the palace (I, 305). Seated on an elephant, the king often went round the city in stately procession (II, 122). Kings vie with one another in splendour. For instance, a Benares king thinks, “All over India the kings live in a palace supported by many a column . . . What if I make a palace with one column only to support it? Then I shall be the chiefest king of all kings” (IV, 153).

c10.61

Sometimes there were glorious wrestling matches. Once we read, “the wrestling ring was prepared in front of the king’s gate; there was an enclosure for the games, the ring was decked out gaily, the flags of victory were ready tied. The whole city was in a whirl; line over line rose above the seats, tier above tier” (IV, 81). A musical scene is thus described: “At the palace door a pavilion was set up, and a throne was set apart for the king. He came down from the palace, and took his seat upon the divan in the gay pavilion. All around him were thousands of slaves, women beauteously apparelled, courtiers, Brāhmaṇas, citizens. All the people of the town had come together. In the courtyard they were fixing the seats circle on circle, tier above tier . . .” (II, 253). Kings are seen going to the park surrounded by dancers (III, 40). As usual they are fond of hunting (III, 325). The fortnightly fast seems to have been the occasion of great festivity. The place of meeting is decorated; king, viceroys and others listen to discourses (III, 342). The king sometimes holds wine orgies (V, 13 et seq) There were gorgeous elephant festivals (V, 282 et seq.)

c10.62

Part of the royal splendour was the harem. When a king and queen of Benares determine to marry their daughter only to a monogamous prince, the ambassadors of a suitor, the king of Mithilâ remark, "Ours is a great kingdom, the city of Mithilâ covers seven leagues and the measure of the whole kingdom is 300 leagues. Such a king should have 16,000 wives at the least . . ." (IV, 316 et seq.) A king of Videha is said to have possessed a harem of 16,000 wives (VI, 220). So, too, Daśaratha, king of Kośala (IV, 124 et seq.) The high traditional number may be taken to imply that almost every king had a large seraglio. The harem had its own 'politics.' A king takes a flower-selling girl into the harem, raises her to the position of chief queen, then disgraces her and finally rehabilitates her (III, 21). Another king raised the helpmate of his troubles to be the chief queen but otherwise neglected her. The Bodhisatta had to exert himself to bring about a thorough reconciliation (III, 68, also 107-108). The rivalries and jealousies of co-wives were proverbial (V, 21). The affairs of the harem sometimes had serious repercussions on affairs of state. In the extremely interesting Jâtaka version of Râma's tale, the queen-consort of Daśaratha is succeeded on her death by another who, in response to the offer of a boon, requests the supersession of the two elder princes by her own son. Informed by soothsayers that he has still twelve years to live, the old king tells Râma and Lakkhana, "My sons, if you live here, some mischief may befall you. Go to some neighbouring kingdom, or to the woodland, and when my body is burnt, then return and inherit the kingdom which belongs to your family . . ." They and their sister Sîtâ go to the Himâlayas. On the king's demise in 9 years, the queen-consort desires that the umbrella should be raised over her son Bharata. But the courtiers did not allow it, saying, 'the lords of the umbrella are dwelling in the forest.' Accompanied by a complete host of the four arms, Bharata himself proceeded to the forest with the fine insignia of royalty for Râma. When Râma refused to return until the completion of the full twelve years, the rest came back but for the next three years the slippers of Râma were supposed to rule the kingdom. The ministers placed them on the royal throne when they judged a cause (IV, 124 et seq.). More unsavoury situations were sometimes created. A prince-viceroy, falsely incriminated by a jilted step-mother, is sentenced by the enraged king to be taken to the thieves' cliff and beheaded. The nobles, the ministers, and many harem ladies protest. But the king is adamant (IV, 191). The harem was strongly guarded (IV, 105). But nothing could prevent occasional criminal liaison. Guilty of misconduct in the harem, a minister is told by the king, "O blinded by folly! you have sinned, and are not worthy to dwell in my kingdom; take your substance and your wife and family and go hence." The minister migrates to Kosala and becomes the confidential adviser of the Kosala king. He instigates border raids and a regular invasion against his old master (I, 262 et seq.). Several such incidents are recorded in the Jâtakas (II, 125-26, 401; III, 13, 168 et seq., 337 et seq). In another story, a royal servant becomes a paramour of the queen, murders the king and buries him. The prince, however, does the same to the murderer and amply revenges the wrong (III, 419 et seq.). There is one instance of an Uparâjan intriguing in the harem of the king, his own brother (IV, 79).

c10.63

A pleasanter side of court life was the charity practised on a lavish scale. It must have gone a long way to win the loyalty of the people and enhance the prestige of the king. A king of Benares "built six halls of bounty, one at each of the four gates, one in the midst of the city, and one before the palace;

c10.64

and every day he distributed in gifts six hundred thousand pieces of money." The monarch himself went among the needy and the miserable and showered bounties. The whole country was astir with his generosity (II, 118). Identical statements are made of many other kings (IV, 176, 355, 361 et seq., 402; V, 162; VI, 42 et seq.) Beggars and mendicants are often at the king's window (II, 273). In spite of the pomp and glory which surrounded him, a king could unbend on occasions. We see a king moving freely among his subjects (IV, 201). Another greets a mendicant, sets him on his own couch, and offers him all the delicious dishes prepared for himself (II, 273). Another king led an ascetic "to a dais and set him upon the throne under a white umbrella; his own food the king gave him to eat and himself ate of it. Then he took him to the garden, and caused a covered walk and dwelling to be made for him, and furnished him with all the necessaries of an ascetic" (II, 316). Similar incidents are recorded elsewhere (III, 79 et seq.). The king's example of charity was imitated by his wealthy subjects. A Benâres merchant worth eighty crores established six almshouses at the usual spots and in the usual style. We are told that 600,000 beggars partook of his generosity each day (III, 129; also IV, 355 et seq.). A royal treasurer practises charity on the same scale and in the same manner (V, 383 et seq.).

c10.65

The king was the motive force of the whole government. One of his principal duties was the administration of justice. He is often an original tribunal and sometimes open to suggestion or protest from his Purohita or minister of justice (I, 133; III, 232). The king is often prompted to summary justice. A man is brought before him. "What is this, my friend?" enquires the king. They reply, "here's a thief who has been robbing your majesty's treasury." "Away with him to execution." The accused, however, has

c10.66

Duties of the King.

c10.67

the courage to expostulate and is released (I, 371). Elsewhere, too, a criminal is hauled up in the very first instance before the king (I, 384; see also II, 298 et seq.) In the Rathalaṭṭhi Jâtaka (III, 104) a Purohita of the king falsely accuses some cart-drivers of striking him. The king promptly commands the drivers to give up their horses by way of punishment. The minister who happened to be the Bodhisatta, expostulates, persuades the king to hear the other side and so leads him to give the correct judgment. There were, of course, many cases which were decided by the officers of the king without reference to him (II, 182; V, 299).

c10.68

The king must promote morality and sometimes adopts rough and ready homely ways of doing so. Succeeding Brahmadatta as king of Benâres, the Bodhisatta summons his ministers, Brâhmaṇas, gentry and others and, with their consent, proclaims, by beat of drum, that in fulfilment of his princely vow, he would make a sacrifice of a thousand sinners (I, 260). The people believe that everything depended on the king. Figs are sweet when the king exercises his rule with justice and equity. But “in the time of unjust kings, oil, honey, molasses and the like, as well as wild roots and fruits, lose their sweetness and flavour; and not these only but the whole realm becomes bad and flavourless” (III, 111). The king did sometimes play the rôle of a moral teacher. Twice a month, for instance, a king would gather his subjects together and say, “Give alms, practise virtue, righteously follow your business and calling, educate yourselves in the days of your youth, gain wealth, do not behave like a village cheat or dog, be not harsh or cruel, do your duty in caring for mother and for father, in family life honour your elders” (IV, 176-7, also, 361 et seq.). Some kings were particularly anxious to provide for the comforts of hermits and travellers. For instance, one of them provides a park to shelter them, in particular during the rains (IV, 444).

First 71 of 102 passages. Read on

Linked texts (12)