Jain Journal 1974 01

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 35

A Sidelight on Social, Economic and Political Aspects of Civilization in its Beginning on the Basis of the
Jaina Agamas
J. C. SIKDAR
“With the rise of the conception of the impropriety of sexual intercourse between the children it had an effect upon divisions of old and the foundation of new household communities”l. (Hausgemeinden)
Such a picture of the Family Community is found just after the period of Nabhi, the fourteenth Kulakara, at the dawn of civilization when his son Rsabhadeva became the tribal chieftain. As pointed out before, he married his co-uterine sister Sumangala and one Yaugalic girl Sunanda who was a part of the yugala and who lost the other part-male brother and had begot one hundred sons and two daughters on them. Since his time there took place the rise of the conception of the impropriety of sexual intercourse between children of a common mother as he prohibited the marriage between Bharata and Brahmi (the co-uterine brother and sister) and Bahubali and Sundari (the couterine brother and sister). It had an effect upon such divisions of old and the foundation of new household communities. The punaluan family arose out of yaugalic consanguine family, “as the one or more groups of sister became the nucleus of one household, while their natural brothers the nucleus of the other".
With the advent of civilization, according to the Jaina Agamas, a certain pairing took place under group marriage since the Age of Rsabhadeva for longer or shorter period, as most of the successive kings married many princesses at a time in group, e.g. 64000 princesses were married by Bharata at a time, although there was one agramahişt (chief queen) among them. That is to say, “the man had a principal wife among numerous wives and he was the principal husband among them"3.
1 F. Engels, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, p. 39. 2 Ibid., pp. 39-40. $ Ibid., p. 47.