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334 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA
1. The sacrificial slaughter (arambho) of living
creatures.
2. Violence (vihimsā) to animate beings.
3. Unseemly behaviour to (asampratipati) to kinsmen (jñāti).
4. Unseemly behaviour to Brahmanas and έramanas. 5. Maladministration in the Provinces.
According to Rock Edict I, Aśoka saw much offence not only in the sacrificial slaughter of animals, but also in certain Samajas or festive gatherings which, as we learn from the Kauțiliya,' were often witnessed by kings and emperors.2 The Samaja, says Smith, was of two kinds. The popular festival kind, accompanied by animal fights, heavy drinking and feasting, including much consumption of meat, was necessarily condemned by Aśoka, as being inconsistent with his principles. The other kind, the semi-religious theatrical performance, sometimes given in the temples of Sarasvati, the goddess of learning, was apparently not included among offensive Samājas. Dr. Thomas describes the disapproved Samaja as "a celebration of games or contests taking place in an arena or amphitheatre surrounded by platforms (mañcha) for spectators (preksha)." This kind of Samaja is apparently referred to in the following lines of the Virața parva of the Mahabharata :
Ye cha kechinniyotsyanti Samajeshu niyodhakaḥ.*
"Those combatants who will take part in wrestling in the Samājas."
1 p. 45.
2 For the holding of Samajas in Magadha and in neighbouring countries see Vinaya, IV, 267; Mahāvastu, III. 57 and 383.
3 JRAS., 1914, pp. 392 ff.
4 Virāța, 2, 7.
