Sambodhi 2004 Vol 27

Author(s): J B Shah, N M Kansara
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 53

Vol. XXVII, 2004
(E) UTOPTIA AND (E)UCHRONIA IN....
trees) provide the Hyperboreans with food from day to day, how they live without discord for a very long time 24
Hemacandra was not a starry-eyed idealist or a social reformer. The purpose behind the evocation of Uttarakuru and the supposed happy carefree existence at the dawn of human history was anything but a trope decrying the fate of man, or for glorifying the Noble Savage. What is worth noting, however, is the fact that in spite of all exagerration in the story of the progressive degeneration of man's estate, Hemacandra does not fail to pinpoint the scarcity of resources and consequent rise of theft as the root of all customs that control the society. The Purānic account of the successive decay from the Satya-yuga down to the Kali eschews these very apsects. Everything seems to happen as a matter of course. Despite many limitations and fantastic exaggerations, Hemacandra's account is fascinating, all the more so because of its affinity with the Buddhist legends (mentioned above) of the origin of private property and the king.
There are certain differences in the accounts too. But they are of little consequence. The basic difference, however, is that the Buddhist account eschews everything supernatural (for example, the wishfulfilling-trees) and consistantly emphasizes the interrelationship between scarcity, poverty and moral degradation; it represents the origin of the state as the outcome of social contract. The Jain legend, on the other hand, focuses on the supernatural selection of the king and his omniscience. Neither the redactor/s of the Dighanikāya nor Hemacandra were conducting an anthropological field-study. Their interests were far from acadamic. Yet the fact remains that they have succeeded in presenting the course of human development from savagery of civilization in their own ways.
Notes:
1. For details see Bhattacharya (2000/2001) 2. Mehta and chandra, Vol 1, p. 116. 3. TSPC, I. 226-37. Trans. Helen M. Johnson, pp. 29-30. 4. See Lovejoy and Boas, pp. 90-303. 5. McCrinle, p. 77.s
See the Atānātiyasūtta (Dīghanikāya), Part 3. p. 153; Mbh. Ādiparvan, Critical Edition, 113, 4-8 (Vulgate Edition, 122, 4-8); Anuśāsanaparvan, Crit. Ed., 105. 25-28 (vul. Ed.,
112. 25-28). 7. Mbh. Bhīşmaparvan, Crit. Ed. 8.8-9, (vul. Ed. 7.8-9).