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240 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS
• life. The early Jaina and Buddhist texts are
full of vivid pictures of purgatories and paradises. 'According to the Rāmāyana, in order to prevent disturbances to the sacrifices in the āśramas, caused by the aboriginal tribes, the hermits and sages had to seek occasionally the aid of the princes and warriors for an armed protection. But left to themselves and determined to remain non-violent and non-harming, they had to make patience, forbearance, etc., ar virtue of necessity.
The account of Mahāvīra's early wanderings in the country of Ladha in the Acārānga Sūtra shows that the rude inhabitants of the place used to set dogs with the cry of chucchū upon the ascetios when they were found near their localities?. But as borne out by the reminiscences of Mahāvīra and the Buddha, the mischief-makers whom the lonely ascetics had to reckon with were the cowherds (gopālakā) who made practical jokes on them.
The doctrinal basis of various stories of heaven and hell was the widely current popular belief in paraloka or life hereafter. The doctrine of Karma was founded on this very belief. So much stress was laid upon the betterment of human existence in the life to come that the
1 Acäränga Sutra, i, 8.8-4. * Tod, 18,8–10; Mahasihan@da Sutta, Mcphama, i, p. 79.
