Studies in the Bhagavati Sutra

Author(s): J C Sikdar
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

Page 638

Sec. 11)
STUDIES IN THE BHAGAWATI SÚTRA.
613
eighteen republican chiefs to put up a stubborn resistance to the impending wars declared by king Kūņika in defence of the republic of Vaisāli, while Vatsa, Sindhu-Sauvīra and other states maintain ed complete neutrality in these struggles, though king Udayana of Vatsa and king Udāyana of Sindhu-Sauvīra were matrimonially related to king Cetaka.
The BhS further reveals that the foundation of every state was based on its military strength and peaceful feudal relation with a number of princes, feudal lords and republican chiefs under the suzerainty of their sovereign ruler.
Besides the political conditions, the Bhs furnishes a good deal of valuable informations regarding the polity and administration of both monarchical and non-monarchical forms of government, running side by side during its period. The former was based on the divine kingship and the latter on the social contract theory, as they are reflected in the monarchical state of Magadha and the republic of the Licchavis of Vaikäli and that of the Mallakis of Pāvā and Kuśīnānā. It throws light upon the origin, nature and sovereignty of the state, kingship, conception of the state, its organs and functions. According to the political ideas as embodied herein the state was an organic whole consisting of a king (or a president-king), government, economic selfsufficiency, defence and its recognition by other states. It is revealed that the state was totalitarian in character, for its sphere of activities covered the political, social, economic, spiritual and cultural development of the people.
The Bhs also provides many informations regarding the social conditions-social organization, caste system, four stages of life, social structure, family and social relation, social belief in dreams, etc., birth ceremony of a new born male child, his education, marriage, position of women in its society, food and drink, dresses and ornaments, art of decoration, houses, articles of furniture, social manners and customs, sports and amusements, and funeral ceremonies.
The society as depicted in this canonical work was based on the traditional Varnāśrama Dharma and it was divided into