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A CRITICAL STUDY OF PAUMACARIYAM
society there was possibly a custom of marring one's own sister. Some stray evidences of the practice can be traced out. The 'sakta' of Yamayami (Rgveda, 10-10) reveals that sexual relation between a brother and a sister was in vogue. The Ambattha Sutta (Digha Nikaya) refers to the Sākya princes marrying there own sisters for preserving the purity of blood. The Dasaratha Jataka mentions that Rāma and Sita were brother and sister and they were married to each other. Instances of the wedlocks of brothers and sisters are known in the history of the royal families of Egypt and Persia and these occurred also among the Incas of Peru. In recent times the marriage of brother and sister is, or has been, the custom in Siam, Burma, Ceylon, Uganda and the Hawaiian islands in the Muslim society the custom of marriage between a stepsister and a stepbrother is still prevalent.
This was the picture of the society, as the PCV reveals, before the down of the Kštayuga which was ushered in by Rşabhadeva, the first Tirthaikara of the Jaina faith. It throws light on that primitive stage of society when the civilization had not made strides. At that time the life was simple. The complication of rules and laws, manners and customs, politics and religion, and agriculture and commerce had not grown. People lived chiefly on natural products. There was a common kingdom of the animals and the humanity. They were endearing to each other. Both lived as friends. There was no advancement in arts. Various social institutions had not originated and the society was classless and creed-less.
Kytayuga (Era of Sweat and Toil) :-The PCV further mentions that as the time passed, the conditions began to change gradually, The wish-trees (Kalpavřkşas) disappeared and the sugar-cane juice became the chief food of the people (3. 111). At that time Rşabha was born of Marudei by Nābhi, the last Kulakara. He was the first Tirthankara and the enunciator of Kộtayuga?-an age of strife, sweat and toil. He was the first person to establish settlements for the habitation of the people. He introduced sciences and arts which became the means of livelihood of the people. It was at this stage of Kệtajuga that the professional classes (castes) were established.
1. Ency. Religion & Ethics, Vol. 8. p. 425. 2. Jeņa ya jugam divittham puhaie sayalasattasuhajanana tena u jagammi
juttham tam kayajugam nāma-PCV, 3.118. 3. Gāmāgaranagarapattananivesa kallānapayaranāņi ya sayari ca sippāņa
uvaittham-PCV, 3. 114.
