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Lord Mahāvīra and His Times
rooms, seats, carriages and vehicles in large quantity. His treasury was full of gold and silver, and his people had ample food. He was the master of the slaves of both sexes, of cow's, buffaloes, oxen, and sheep. His treasury, granaries, and armouries were brimming to the full.
Very often we see in kings an unrestrained tyrant guided by his own whims and caprices, who oppresses and puts down his subjects by punishments, taxes, torture, and robbery. He suffers from many vices such as drunkenness, cruelty, corruptibility, untruthfulness, and unrighteousness. 4.
There are instances of tyrannical rulers being removed from the throne or killed by the people. In the Padakusalamāņava Jataka,5 there is probably a trace of authentic history; in spite of its legendary garb, it may have preserved the memory of actual facts. It is narrated how a young Brāhmaṇa, after discovering by magic the treasures stolen and concealed by the king and his purohita, calls the king a thief in the presence of the assembled people who resolve to kill the bad king so that he may not plunder them any more. Another example of such a violent removal of the unrighteous king is found in the Sachchamkira Jataka. Here also the king is driven out of the town by the enraged Khattiyas, Brāhmaṇas, and other citizens, and in his place, a Brāhmaṇa is installed king.
Pālaka, the ruler of Avanti, was reputed to have been a tyrant. The populace headed by the President of the guild merchants of the capital deposed him, and, having brought out Gopāla from the prison, put him on the throne."
Those were the times when wars and quarrels among these states were very frcquent as were internal rebellions too. Under such circumstances, the first and foremost duty of the king was the protection of the subjects against internal and 1. Ora, 6. 2. Khantitādi Já, II, 3919. 3. Bharu Jā, II, 169. 4. Cheliya Ja, III, 454. 5. Ja, III, 501. fi. Ja, I, 326. 7. JBORS, Vol 1 Pt. I, 315.
