A History of Agriculture in India v1.c27.s3: Jainism
A History of Agriculture in India v1.c27.s3
- Language
- English
Jainism
v1.c27.s3.1
Vardhamana Mahavira was born in 540 B.C. in a village near Vaisali in northern Bihar. His father was head of a Kshatriya clan and his mother was a Lichchhavi princess. Mahavira became an ascetic at the age of thirty and wandered from place to place preaching his doctrine of non-violence. He died at the age of seventy-two in 468 B.C. at Pavapuri near modern Rajgir. Bimbisara was the ruler of Magadha during the lifetime of the Buddha and Mahavira.
v1.c27.s3.2
As the cultivation of soil, according to Jainism, caused violence to living beings, the Jainas adopted the profession of trade and commerce and money-lending. Even at present, Jainas are mostly merchants and money-lenders. The Jainas adopted Prakrit language in preference to Sanskrit, and this promoted the growth of Prakrit language and its literature.
v1.c27.s3.3
With the increase in agricultural production due to the use of iron tools, trade and commerce also flourished. About twenty cities are named in Buddhist literature. Seven of them only are reckoned by Thera Ananda as sufficiently important cities (maha-nagara), viz. Savatthi, Champa, Rajagaha, Saketa, Kosambi, Benares and Kusinara.