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SOCIAL CONDITIONS
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114.20 & many other queens 114. 22). Then there were others who became Tapasas viz. prince Anuddhara (39. 84) etc.
Vaisyas :- The Sanskrit Dictionary mentions that the word 'Vaisya' is derived from “Vis'. 'Vis' means the people who settle on the soil and 'Vaisya' means the working man (MWSED). Thus the Vaisyas were the producers of wealth in various ways. On them depended the prosperity of the country. The Aryan society as a whole is called “Vis' and their king as 'Visāmpati' in the Vedic literature (MWSED). Out of this universal society the other castes developed on account of their specialised pursuits (learning-Brāhmaṇa, arms-Kșatriya and service-Śūdra). Thus the Vaiśyas constituted the real society, the backbone of all the other three castes whose subsistence depended upon the wealth produced by the former class. Therefore, the Vaisya class becomes the most important one of all the four castes.
The PCV mentions that the Vaisyas consisted of the people who were engaged in the profession (vāvāraparāyana) of trade, agriculture, or cattle-breeding (vāņijjakarisaņāim gorakkhaṇapālanesu ujjutta 3.116). Manu also corroborates it (vāņikpaśukršiḥ 10.79). They must have been highly esteemed because they constituted the productive and the economic strength of the state and the complete material prosperity of a nation depended on them. The Paumacariyaṁ states that the sārthavāhas; śreşthins; gļhapatis (66. 8) and kauțumbikas (80. 12) enhanced the prosperity of the Magadha country (2.3). There is also a reference to the 'jyeșthakas' who enhanced she Sri of Saketanagara (80. 12) and the city of Rājagrha was adorned with the activities of the merchants from various neighbouring states (2.10). These were the financiers, merchants and the agriculturists of those days who held prominent position in the society. The 'Satthāha' was the chief merchant leader of the Caravan, who controlled extensive trade inside and outside the state. The 'Setthis' were the Aldermen of guilds (probably merchant). About a 'gahavai' it is mentioned in the PCV (48.79) that his sons were engaged in the work of agriculture and cattle-breeding. Its mention along with the 'Setthis' (66.8) and the 'Satthahas' (2.3) indicates that the 'grhapatis' were the persons of wealth. In the Buddhist Jātakas they are forming a land-owning and mercantile class”. The “kodumbiyas' have been explained as the representatives of the middle class which had the duty of offering to the
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1. BI, p. 50. 2. Gihapasuk hettaisu-kuņai kammar. 3. OGCI, Vol. I, p. 269.
