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A PICTURE OF THE TIMES
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and at others discourses were held on the srutis, smrtis, vyākaranaśāstra, purānas and itihāsas.
The Brāhmaṇas were rich and learned. The mention of the riches of the Brāhmaṇas reminds us of the verse:
मुक्ताः केलिविसूत्रहारगलिताः संमार्जनीभिर्हताः प्रातः प्राङगणसोम्नि मन्थरचलाबालाङिघलाक्षारुणाः । दुरादाडिमबीजशङिकतधियः कर्षन्ति केलीशका:
यद्विद्वद्भवनेषु भोजनृपतेस्तत्त्यागलीलायितम् ॥ The Brāhmaṇas followed the path laid down by the śruti and the smrti. (Pfaretra a * etc.).
Boys were invested with the sacred thread and initiated into studies at a young age. By the time he was sixteen hec ed his studies. (T TTTTT fafta taga si retar FITTET: ) and entered life with full zest. The bulk of the Brāhmaṇas may have followed their ancestral occupation of study and rituals and received the titles of distinction; but all spheres of activity were open to them. We hear of the Brāhmaṇa Vişnudatta, who became a king, and Mädhava who returned from Simhaladvipa after doing good business.
The kings. princes. feudatories and courtiers came from the Kşatriyas. They were rich, charitable, pleasure-loving and valorous. The position of the king has already been described above."
The third important class was that of the Vaisyas, the merchants. The sons of merchants were well up in all arts and sciences, like gaja-sästra, aśva-vidyā, vanik-kalā, dyūta-rahasya, vaisikopanişad, citra, patracchedya and pusta-kalā. For them it was not obligatory to join their father's business. (Cf. Ratnadatta's attitude). The city's wealth and splendour depended upon the wealth of the merchants, and therefore they were an important class of people.
Besides these three classes, the Kāyasthas are mentioned. According to the Varņa-dharma they form an intermediate caste. But prior to the epoch depicted in this work, the Kayasthas were in the administrative services of the kings. They formed a class of government officers. In the Narmamālā Kșemendra devotes a whole chapter to the Kāyasthas, where the first verse eulogises them rather sarcastically thus:
येनेदं स्वेच्छया सर्व मायया मोहितं जगत् ।
स जयत्यजितः श्रीमान्कायस्थः परमेश्वरः ।। The references to Kayasthas are generally full of scorn and deroga
33. Mammata, Kavyaprakāśa, X, cf. the following description:
न पक्षपातेन वदामि सत्यं उषस्सु यस्यां भवनाङगणेभ्यः । संभाजनीभिः परतः क्रियन्ते fagftarafsetTarf II Padmagupta, Navasähasänkacarita, I. 27. -
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