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CHAPTER III
SOCIAL LIFE
Although composed in the last quarter of the 7th century A.D., the Nišitha Gürni embodies a considerable amount of material depicting ancient customs and traditions which might not belong to the period of its composition. In this chapter it will be our endeavour to evaluate and illustrate the multifarious aspects of social life by analysing the NC. and other contemporary sources with a view to reflect the life of that period. Society
Similar to classical Sanskrit and Jaina Prakrit texts the NC. also marks a distinction between the Aryans and the non-Aryans, the latter being variously called Anariyas, Mecchas or Dasus. People living inside the twenty-five and a half Aryan regions, 3 following Aryan customs and
1. For physical differences between the Āryans and the non-Aryans see
Senart, Caste in India, pp. 122 f. 2. NC. 3, pp. 492, 518; NC.4, p. 124. 3. According to the ancient tradition, the Jaina monks in the ancient
times were allowed to move as far as Magadha in the east, Kośāmbi in the south, Thùnā in the west and Kunālā in the north (N. Bhā. 5733; NC. 4, pp. 125-26). It was from the time of Samprati that Jainism spread in other regions and consequently the twenty-five and a half countries were declared as Aryan. These were : (1) Magadha, (2) Anga, (3) Vanga, (4) Kalinga, (5) Kası, (6) Kośala, (7) Kuru, (8) Kusatta, (9) Pāñcāla, (10) Jāngala, (11) Surattha. (12) Videha, (13) Vaccha, (14) Sandilla, (15) Malaya, (16) Vaccha, (17) Varana, (18) Dasanna, (19) Cedi, (20) Sindhu-Sovira, (21) Sūrasena, (22) Bhamgi, (23)Purivatta, (24) Kunālā, 25) Läda (Ladha) and (26) Kegaiaddha--Brh. V. 3, p. 913; LAI., p. 250.
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