Most Ancient Aryan Society

Author(s): Ram Chandra Jain
Publisher: Institute of Bharatalogical Research Sriganganagar Rajasthan

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Atharvanic Suktas, relied upon by Jayaswal, bear the heading 'Rajñah Samvarṇam'. The word 'Varana' may be traced to Vr in the sense of 'willing, accepting'. This word does not convey the sense of direct representation. It appears that one of the great Devas was presented to the grand Council of Limited Nobility er Devaganas and he was accepted by them as their Rājan. May be, like its Greek counterpart, the institution of Ganapati might have evoked resentment due to the impact of the new set of circumstances and appeal to the wider section of society was made. That might have been Aristocracy of the Greek type. The word Varna or Samvarna do not carry the sense of election. We may not forget that the hegemony of Indra, Varuna, Bṛhaspati, Brhanaspati and Agni was still preserved.
Jayaswal also refers to Janapadas and Mahājanapadas in the sixth century B. C. Most of the Mahajanapadas, by that time, had adopted the system of absolute monarchy. The assemblies, if at all, enjoyed only advisory character. Only one or two retained their old, but diluted by the Aryan tribal way, republican system. All the pre-Olympian republics in Greece and the Ægean had been annihilated by the beginning of the first millennium B. C. Bhārata was too big and vast than the compact region of Greece and the Ægean. The Brahmāryans met great resistance from the Eastern republics of Bharata. Janaka of Videha, crossed over to the enemy camp and established monarchy, after shaking off the old republican system. The republican Lichchhavis, assisted by the republican Kāsīs, over through Videhan monarchy11 and rejoined it to its parent Vajjian republican confederacy. These republican states had to wage constant wars with the Brahmaryan tribal collectives for nearly four or five centuries. They could not maintain their peoples' republican
Janapada and Mahajanapada