Lord Mahavira and His Times

SR No.: 011080
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Kailashchandra Jain
Publisher: Motilal Banarasidas
Publication Year: 1974
Total Pages: 427
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 20 MB

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Lord Mahāvira' and His Times
days in literature. One of them, Anāthapiņdika, is said to have purchased the Jetavana park for the Buddha by.covering the whole surface of it with gold coins. Ananda from Vānijagrāma, Kāmadeva from Champā, Sūradeva from Banaras, Sardalaputra from Polasapura, and Mahasataka from Rājagriha were famous wealthy merchants who became followers of Mahāvīra. The wealth of the middle classes appears from their dress, ornaments, houses, and furniture. There is no reference to extreme poverty or to paupers as a class. On the whole, people lived happily in peace and prosperity. ORGANIZATION OF TRADE AND INDUSTRIES
The most remarkable feature of the economic life during this period was that trade and industries were organized for the first time into guilds known as Srenis. These Srenis were the corporations of the people belonging to the same or different castes but following the same trade and industry. These guilds. were autonomous bodies and their members managed their own affairs. There was little interference by the state in the affairs of the guild.
The Brahmanical, Buddhist, and Jaina sources make references to guilds. The Gautama Dharma Sūtra? mentions the guilds of cultivators, traders, herdsmen, and artisans. The Jatakas” refer to eighteen guilds which, though a conventional number, show the extensive character of the organisation. There are various branches of trade and industry which, together, considerably exceed the number eighteen. The guilds of woodworkers, the smiths, the leather-dressers, and the painters are specifically mentioned.3 In Jaina literary works, the guilds of goldsmiths, painters, and washermen are mentioned, and about the rest, we do not know much. ORGANIZATION AND CONSTITUTION
The Jālakas throw some light on the organization and constitution of these guilds. These guilds were, to begin with, 1. Gau. Dh. S, X1, 2. Ja, VI, 22, 427; J7, 1. 267. 214; IV. 43, 411. 3. Ja, 1., 314; III, 251; IV. 411; VI. 22. 4. Mayâ, p. 105. 5. Ibid, p. 107. 6. Ira.chu, II. p. 182.