________________
The Social And Political Background Of Mahâvîra's Teachings
25
launched a vigorous invasion against the Vajjian confederacy. In this great battle the Vajjians were exterminated and their leader Cetaka, being defeated, committed suicide by drowning. The tremendous bloodshed and massacre caused by this invasion did not escape the notice of Mahâvîra. Even the Buddha himself could not remain a loof and took great care to see that the Vajjians should remain unified and adhere strictly to their tribal norms and values for maintaining their independence in the face of Magadhan invasion. Gosala described this war in one of his eight finalities as the last great storm cloud' (carimepokkhala samvatte mahamehe) which swept away all the traditional values and social relations. The destruction of the Vajjian confederacy was not an isolated event. The Sakya tribe, to which the Buddha himself belonged, was annihilated by the Kosalan prince Vidudabha, who did not spare even women and children, and this happened before the very eyes of the Buddha. Needless to say the creed of non-violence preached by these teachers was the outcome of their direct experience of gross violence through which state-power appeared in different parts of this country on the ruins of tribal equality.
The rise of class society and state power in eastern India in the sixth century B.C. through immense bloodshed and wholesale massacre was undoubtedly the culmination of a historical process. The cause of this rise should be attributed to the production of immense social surplus and its accumulation in the hands of a few. From the Upanisadic legends we came to know of the fact that kings like Janaka spent many thousands of cows for getting assurance of immortality from renowned teachers like Yajnavalkya and others. This shows the fantastic extent of social wealth that was accumulated in the hands of a few. This accumulation of surplus could be caused only in two ways, either by forcible exploitation of labour or by a revolutionary change in the mode of production. Some scholars believe that this change was due to the introduction of iron implements in the field of production." So long as the mode of production cannot yield surplus, the integration of trible society remains intact, but when a qualitative change in that mode takes place, it also changes the existing social values and relations, giving rise to the growth of a