Risabha Deva

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

Page 40

26
RISABH DEVA
The date on which this arrangement was made was the first of the dark half in the month of Asadha, which is the commencement of the karma-bhumi (sweating) sristi (creation, or Order of things).
The people were now happy, and prosperity reigned generally in the land. They were very grate: ful to the WORLD TEACHER for all that He had done for them, and never wearied of singing His praises.
Some time after this Nāhhi Raja installed Risahlia Deva on the throne, and himself retired from the active concerns of kingship, Great celebrations again cok place, in which devas participated.
It was some time after the installation ceremony that the WORLD TEACHER laid down the foundation of Aryau stability in the form of varna-vyavasthā (the rule of the caste). Three varnas, not four, were laid down, corresponding to what may be described as the army, the trades and labour (in a comprehensive sense). The system owed its existence to political foresight rather than anything else. It was merely a threefold conscription. A class was set apart for warfare and the maintenance of order, internal and external; another, for carrying on trade; and the third was to prevent disruption for the want of servant attendants, stretcher-beareas, and the men who knew the arts and crafts. In times of war especially have all these three functions of the society to be maintained.
The merit of the varna-vyavastha is great; it enabled the Aryan Culture to rear its proud head over the din and fury of wars and the crash of empires in