________________
(xcii)
the original Dravidian population of the land became now the agriculturists of the country and of course formed the great Sūdra class". The Poet also refers to the Sabara women of the aborigines of the Vindhyas. The young men were clad only in leaves to cover their lower parts, while women had decorations of peacock feathers on their ears. Migration, perhaps, was a usual feature. Referring to such deserted villages (608 ), the Poet observes : The heart somewhat clings to the abandoned villages, in which the trees have burst through walls and the smoke rises only from the sheds of cowherds and in which a few crows perch here and there". Solitary temples in thick groves of trees, with a Siva linga were also to be met with in the country. A pious religious man (dhārmika) from a village nearby would come and wash this linga on occasions. One also came across monks living in the mountain caves, in which the stones have become loose owing to the leaking of the stream-water through them, their garments yellow-brown as an old seed of jujube fruit' (615). Political Conditions:
In the monarchical form of government, the king was absolute and the kingdom and the people belonged to him almost as his property. He was imagined to have divine origin, 'god Visnu52 in human form'. He was looked upon as the father of the people and he was also the dispenser of justice. The king was, of course, born to enjoy, as he had come to the royal station, by reason of austerities that he had performed in his previous lives. He was, therefore, always surrounded by young and beautiful women and they were given various duties,
52. at faco: gfiratafa: 1
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