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Social Conditions
249
on hire to work for others. Slaves were given thrashing and kept in fetters by their masters.
No serious attempt was made to improve the lot of slaves. Even a great reformer like Mahātmā Buddha did not have courage enough to admit any slave into his Order. The Lichchhavis were not prepared to recognize the sons born of their female slaves as free men. Vãsavakhattiyā was not recognized by them as a member of the Śākya family only because she was the daughter of Prince Mahānāma's slave girl Nāgamundā.
There are some instances to prove that some slaves received good treatment from their masters. They were given opportunities to learn reading, writing, and handicrafts along with their masters' sons. Kațāhaka grew up in the company of his master's son, got his education along with him, learnt two or three handicrafts, and was appointed as the storc-keeper of his master.2 Sometimes, the daughters of the masters fell in love with their slaves. In the Kațāhaka and Kalanduka Jātakas,4 girls of some reputed families are found marrying their slaves and eloping with them.
Certain methods of liberating the slaves prevailed in the society. War-captives made slaves could get emancipation if the vanquished party subsequently regained its strength and conquered the enemy. Slaves could also be liberated cither by accepting Sannyāsa (monkhood) or by the will of the masters or by paying them a ransom for their emancipation. ORDERS OR STAGES OF LIFE
Even before the time of Mahāvira and the Buddha, the existence of the three well-known Asramas (stagcs), namcly, Brahmacharya, Gșihasta, and Tapas, is a fact cvident from the Chhandogy'a Upanishad and the Bșihadārangaka Upanishad. As a matter of fact, the number of Aśramas is four, not thrce, though there are slight differences in their nomenclaturc and in their scquence. All the four were known by their
1. Economic Life and Progress in Ancient India, p. 297. 2. Ja, I. 451. 3. Ibid, No. 195. 4. Ibid, No. 127.
