Risabha Deva

Author(s): Champat Rai Jain
Publisher: Jain Mitra Mandal

Page 39

CHAPTER V
PUBLIC LIFS Risabha Deva taught men agriculture (cultivation of sugarcane and other crops) and other useful crafts and arts. He laid the foundation of civic life, and taught men how to co-operate with one another for mutual benefit. The country was divided into provinces, these into divisions and districts, and the districts, into towns and villages Kings and chieftains were appointed to govern and to regulate the routine of civic life
The occupations and crafts that were taught to the people comprised fighting, letters, cultivation, trades, professions ( such as carpentry, goldsmith's work, and the like), and arts such as singing, dancing and painting.
Those who fought came to be known as Kshatriyas the traders earned the title of Vaiśyas, the rest were at first called jaghanyaja (small), later, avara (lowest or last ), and finally Sudras, At first Vaisyas were also called by different na'nes, such as aryya (entle) and vanika (trader). There were no Brālımanas then; all were at liberty to pursuie literature and nore were debarred from eclucation. The sudras included all those who earned their living by manual labour or handicraft, ai d who served the Kshatriyas and Vaisyas Those who took to wrestling were also counted among the Sudris.