[PDF]Pre Buddhist India

PRE-

i

BUDDHIST



INDIA



A SURVEY Of
ANCIENT INDIA
BASED ON THE
J*TAKA STORIES



BY

I

RATILAL MEHTA. M.A.



THEY SAY



• . • The work of Mr. Radial jY.
Mehta is a credit to him. His views arc
always impartial, his method is faultless ,
his criticism well founded and precise. 1
hope that his work will be widely read
throughout this country and abroad and help
to dispel dm buss still perhaps existing in
some minds , and to disclose the brilliancy oj
that ancient culture which was the founda-
tion of the culture and achievements of the
Indians of later periods.”

—REV. H. HERAS, S. J.

*

“ Mr. Radial Mehta has laid the

oriental scholar under a deep debt of obli-
gation by his comprehensive study of the
Jii/akas. This work was studied piecemeal
by earlier scholars like Tick and Sen, but
Mr. Mehta's 'Pre-Buddhist India' is a
thorough and exhaustive study. It is a
valuable addition to our knowledge of
Ancient India, laudable and readable
— DR. P. L. VAIDYA, m.a., d utt.







PRE-BUDDHIST INDIA



A POLITICAL. ADMINISTRATIVE. ECONOMIC.
SOCIAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEY OF
ANCIENT INDIA BASED MAINLY ON THE
J AT AKA STORIES



8 Y

RATILAL N. MEHTA, M. A.



BOMBAY

EXAMINER PRESS



1939




TO

THE DAWN
OF LOVE



— "Between the shorn of Me and Thee ,



there is the loud man, my own surging self,
which I long to cross ” —




“Let me light my lamp”
sayy the Star,

“And never debate

I J it icill help la remove the durkntsy"
— Ilabindranalh Tagore.




FOREWORD

F fDTAN History is progressing fast in the direction of its ob-
ject, the past. Some years ago the History of India began
with Alexander’s campaign through the Punjab and the East.
Then the rise of Buddhism and Jainism was added. The pre-
sent hook deals with a period prior to the appearance of Gautama
and Mahflvirn. The book is all the more welcome Bince the
author has taken ns a subject a portion of that period which has
been styled "the Dark Ages of India.”

This denomination refers to the subjective state of ignor-
ance of the students of history, rather than to the objective
panorama of the past, which was not dark at all.

Illustrions kings ruled the country with justice and wisdom.
Of one of them, ASvapati Kaikeya, who ruled in the North-
Western area, the CkOndogya Upaniyid, V, 11, 5, states that
when he got up in the morning he said: "In my country there
are no thieves, nor misers, nor drunkards, nor people who do not
perform sacrifices, nor ignorant, nor debauchees, nor much less
harlots." Such personal statement of the king himself is a credit
to the excellent administration that. India enjoyed in that, early

S e. The student of history, while going through the pages of
is book, will easily detect some of the principles that later on
crvstalizcd in the immortal ArlhatSsira of Kautalya, and which
were so much admired by the Greek envoy Megasthenes.

The economic, conditions of India were also prosperous. Agri-
culture, mining, fisheries, farming, cottage industries, building
industries and other sources of wealth are described minutely, and
sometimes with such abundance of detail as to make us believe
we are living in those remote ages. Trade was brisk, and the
reports we have about sea- voyages incline us to believe that it
was the cause of many settlements of Indiana abroad, both in
the east and in the west..

Special interest is attached to the sociological conditions of
the country, which may be wisely compared with those prevail-
ing at present. The superiority of the kings in matters spiritual ia
indeed an cyc-opencr which has not been sufficiently accounted
for. Those good administrators of the country were also pro-
found thinkers and wise philosophers, at whose school many emi-
nent brahmanaB learned the secrets of the ancient lore of India.-
Some authors have seen in them representatives of the old pre-
Aryan rulers of the country, and if this view is finally accepted,
it will lead us to revise our opinion about the origin of Indian




VI



philosophy and asceticism. Such kings, whose intellectual pur-
suits still shine after perhaps thirty centuries, fostered liberal
education in their dominions. It was precisely during this period
that the first dirama of life was constituted on practical bases.
The agglomerations of Brahmac&rin* in the same towns were
the nuclei of all those ancient famous centres of learning, the
main ones being Tak?o-NalandS, Odantapura, Vallabhipura and others in a subsequent
historical period.

This one, the history of which Mr. Rntilal N. Mehta presents
to the public to-duv, is a period of extraordinary importance,
during which the final amalgamation of the two main races of
India, the Druvldians and the Aryans, which began in the Fedtc
period, was accomplished. The student of Proto-Indian History
will easily discover the constituent elements of this amalgama-
tion in many pages of this book. This is a subject of research
which Mr. Mehta had neither time nor opportunity to study in
the course of his post graduate research. It was totally outside
the scope of his work. Other students may undertake it, and
the country will be grateful to them for it. It is a subject about
which much darkness still prevails in the minds of many.

The main souree of information which the author has

a *d has been tho collection of Buddhist stories of the pre-
s of the Buddha, called the Jdtakas. These stories un-
doubtedly depict conditions and situations of a period of time
prior to that of the revered teacher. The fact that similar

a isodcs are at times found in the Jdtakas and in the Mahd-
irata seems to point to a common older source, which is now
lost. About the historicity of these stories wo cannot doubt at
present. The very incidental way in which they are narrated,
is a guarantee of their trustworthiness and accuracy. Whenever
the mythical element is introduced, it is easily detected.

The work of Mr. Hatilal N. Mehta is a credit, to him and to
this Institute, his Alma Mater. His views are always impartial,
his method is faultless, his criticism well founded and precise.
I hope that his work will lie widely read throughout this country
and abroad, and help to dispel the darkness still perhaps existing
in some minds, and to disclose the brilliancy of that ancient
culture which was the fou mint ion of tho culture and achievements
of the Indians of later periods.

H. H BRAS, S.J.

Indian Historical Research Institute.

St. Xavier's College, Bomlmv.

July 23. 1939.



AUTHOR’S PREFACE



TN* the following pages a humble attempt has been made to
visualise the picture of Ancient India through the Jdtaka stories.
Ever since the publication of these stories, scholars have attemp-
ted to draw from them as much help as they could to enhance
their researches. They have been studied and utilised by vari-
ous hands for shedding more light on the various aspects and
problems of Ancient Indian History. And they have undoubted-
ly been recognised as an important source for this purpose.

A synthetic history embracing the long period through
which Indian Life and Society have grown anu developed is yet
a desideratum. Bctore this is possible, an intensive study has to
be made of the diilerent ages through which they have grown.
And this study of a particular age or period has to bo made
through diilerent sources— literature, ait, archaeology, ethno-
logy, anthropology and the like. It is obvious that this is not
the task lor one liaud. Various hands have to work to create a
complete whole. Thus what Zimmer in his Altindisckcs Leben
has done lor the early Vedio Period, still remains to be done tor
the subsequent periods. The Buddhist and Jaina literatures
together must yield a sufficiently clear picture of Ancient India
of the period immediately encircling round the figures of the
Buddha and Mahavira. An attempt in this direction was made
years ago by l'rof, Rhys Davids, in his Buddhist India. But he
mostly relied upon Buddhist, sources, and that too not exhaus-
tively, whereas the study of the history of tue Buddltist period,
to be complutc, must be made by a careful coilatiou of different
sources, the Upanijadio, the Buddhist and the Juiuu literatures,
over and above the archaeological and other evidences. Every
piece of literature has to be thoroughly ransacked. It was witn
thi6 object that 1 took up the study of the Jelakas — a part of
the extensive Buddhist literature.

As 1 said before, these stories have been utilised by various
scholars. Richard Pick has studied these stories chiedy from tue
social point of view, keeping always the ‘Caste’ aud tue ‘Priest’
before his eyes, which tact, in my opinion, has at times hindered
a purely impartial judgment. Dr. Ray (Jhaudhury has derived
from these stories bucIi data as could he helpful to his 'Political
History,’ and this again not exhaustively. Mrs. Rhys Davids
and Mr. A’. 8. Subbarao have given us the 'Economic Conditions.'
For 'Administrative Aspect' something has been done by Mr.
Beni i’rasad in his work ‘The Slate in Ancient India.' Lastly I
must montiou a really valuable work by Dr. B. C. Sen, 'Studios in



vu




viii

Jdlukas,' published iu the Journal of the Department of Letters ,
Calcutta University, dealing mainly with political and adminis-
trative matters. But all these studies were more or less iso-
lated. In the absence, therefore, of a work comprehensive and
critical in its treatment, and systematically written with a view
to present a connected idea ol Ancient Indian life as portrayed
in these stories, 1 feel myself justified in taking up this subject.
1 have endeavoured, not only to gather all that, research has
done, but to put it in a systematic scientific and connected nar-
rative form.

The work has, for convenience s sake, been divided into live
Sections, dealing with five different aspects : political, adminis-
trative, economic, social and geographical. As regards political
history, there arc several chronological strata dimly recognis-
able in the stories. The kings and princes there mentioned did
not belong to a single period of time: they were often wide
apart from one another in respect of age. Bo that the infor-
mation derived goes to supplement our knowledge of the poli-
tical history from the Vedto timea down to the time ol the
Buddha. Only the last chapter of this section, entitled the
Mahdjunapwia Period, gives us a fair idea of the period imme-
diately preceding the Buddha. And all the remaining aspects
of life, namely, administrative, economic, social and geographi-
cal, delineated in the stories, lall, iu my opinion, in this Mahdja-
nopoda or pre-Buddha period. Hence the title of this work.

It is a moot point whether history should be subjective or
objective. To write objectively has been the avowed aim of
historians from Herodotus to U. Cl. Wells. But it seems im-
possible for the historian to remain unperturbed over the vicis-
situdes in life which he observes. And even 11. (j. Wells had
in the end to conless : "There never will lie an outliuo ol
history written that is not teudential.” These tendencies of
the historian, his pre-conceived notions and prejudices, are bound
to be interwoven in the delineation ol the subject he treats.
And what is wrong in it l However unscientific this method
of approach might be termed, it has its value and its interest.
The fnstoriau should not dive into an ever-receding and ir-
revocable past, simply for the sake of the past. He has to
revaluate the past m the light of the present. Instead of ap-
pearing in the lashiou of a colourless spectator, he has to assume
the role of a representative ol the people of whom he speaks. Ho
is to share their thoughts and reciprocate, or at least under-
stand, their sentiments. He may grow eloquent over their glori-
ous achievements, as he should stress tlieir drawbacks. In
this way, attempting to write history is, inevitably though




imperceptibly, like subjecting oneself to psycho-analysis. It
draws out not only the historian’s opinions but his ‘repressions,’
not only his intellectual character but its ‘complexes.’ Even
those historians who profess to bo most impartial and purely
objective have their hidden snags and tags.

Anyhow, it is quite obvious that every historical study
should have more than purely academic interest. Up till now it
has always been regarded as dry as dust, a jumble of dates, an
unmeaning medley of wars and massacres. To have any value,
history must bo viewed as a kaleidoscope. It should bo a pre-
sentation of life, complete and whole.

The Jdtaka* offer us u clear advantage in this respect.
Though their aims and objects are not avowedly secular, they
nevertheless depict society from an independent point of view,
give details, specially of the darker phases of social life, with the
fullness and variety that we naturally miss in the ‘sacred texts.'
We can Bee here merchants and artisans, workers and peasants,
women and children, old people and ascetics, Brahmins and
Princes— all engrossed in their daily life. The characters we
witness are lively and realistic, ami the incidents narrated are
also taken from real life. In tho words of Prof, ithys Davids,
the Jatakaa are the oldest, most complete and most important
collection of Folklore extant.

1 urn not unmindful of my inabilities. My claim to these
stories us being u faithful representation of the pre-Buddha
period will particularly be questioned. The fear of uncertain
ground on which 1 was standing at first prevented me from giv-
ing the title which has been given to this work, and 1 thought
it wise to make myself secure bv vaguely describing tho work as
Ancient India in the Jd takas. But repeated reading of the book,
page after page, while plodding through the unending proofs,
reassured me, and finally encouraged me in giving the present
title. 1 lea vo it now to the readers to decide whether the title
is justified or not. But I take consolation in the fact that there
was, after all, very little possibility of change in tho general
milieu of Ancient Indian lire within a few centuries, as its per-
sistent conservatism is only too well-known.

The present work is a revised form of the Thesis submitted
to the University of Bombay for the M.A. Degree in 1935. It
took two years for it to go into the Press, and it is after about the
same period that it comes out of the Press, to see the light of
day. Pour long years liuvc thus passed by since it was written.
Journalism having lured me away from an academic oareer.it
was well-nigh impossible for me to keep pace with tho faat-gxowing




tempo of Historical Research Work. If, therefore, the work
suffers from any defects, I crave the indulgence of uiy readers,
i shall deem my labours amply rewarded if the work lightens
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