Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c10.529

c10.529

Buddhism and Jainism tried to inculcate among their followers a spirit of generosity and kindness towards their employees. Thus a passage from the Dīgha Nikāya enjoins that employers should treat their slaves and workpeople decently. They should not be given tasks beyond their strength. They should receive food and wages, be cared for in times of sickness, and be given occasional holidays and shares in the unusual delicacies of the master. On the other hand the servants should be content with their wages, work satisfactorily and maintain the reputation of their master.⁸ Similar instructions were issued by Aśoka to his subjects. In the Jātakas also, if the master is the Bodhisatta, the slave receives good treatment.⁹ A Jain text states that wealth should be accumulated not only for the sake of kinsmen and kings, but also for the sake of dāsas, dāsīs, kammakaras and kammakaris, suggesting thereby that these latter deserve to be well maintained by the employer.¹⁰ Such an instruction was required for the consolidation of the new social formation marked by the appearance of the state and of clear-cut social classes, for in a tribal society wealth is primarily meant for distribution among kinsmen.