Jainism

Author(s): N R Guseva
Publisher: Sindu Publications P L

Page 17

THE RISE OF REFORMATORY
hymns reflect a pattern of social relation in which the head of the family is invested with the right of performing sacrifices and turning to God with his entreaties now, in the period of Brahminism all religious functions were concentrated gradually in the hands of the Brahmins.
If for example, as S. A. Dange considers, the word Brahmin signified the very commune of Aryans in the period of collective means of production, then later, when Brahmanism arose, which by right can be called the first religion of class society of the Aryans, the word 'Brahmin' came to signify priest (the Brahmin), worldly spirit, prayer and then also books (Brahmanas), which were commentaries on Vedas, i.e. everything which was connected only with the religious thinking and ritual functions, performed by members of the Brahmin caste. All the written sources and oral traditions preserve the testimony (evidence) of enmity of the Brahmins with the Kshatriyas, and the conception of the reformatory dogmas is usually connected with the Kshatriyas (in particular, Jainism is named gradually as 'Kshatriyas religion'). Despite this, the word Kshatriyas is understood to mean the martial caste of Indian class society. Here it is appropriate to pose the question: Did the word *Kshatriya' always have only that meaning?
The elucidation of the history of this word enables to introduce greater clarity into the picture of enmical relations between the Kshatriyas and the Brahmins and thence, into the picture of the formation of reformatory religions, including Jainism.
It is known from many historical sources and researches that the so-called republics— Janapadas or Ganas, in which the management was in the hands of groups of persons called Kshatriyas existed in India in the first half of the first millennium .c. The number of such Kshatriyas could reach several thousands and this indicates the probability that all the heads of the Kshatriya families, in point of fact, were the collective head of such republic. It can be taken for granted that these were the representatives of the martial aristocracy.
Which were the preceding historical steps leading to the formation of this group of Kshatriya-warriors, Kshatriya-rulers? Were all the persons called Kshatriyas, members of the martial
4. S. A. Dange, India from Primitive Communism
to Slavery.