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Chapter II POLITICAL CONDITIONS鈥擮rigin of kingship:鈥擣rom the story of Usabha as given in the Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa certain views as advocated in Jainism, on the political theory become clear. According to this story, because of the deterioration of the moral values of the people, the seven ancestors of Usabha, who were elected by the people as supervisors to look into their disputes, evolved these three measures (damdniio) in the form of (damdniio) in the form of hakkara, makkara, The and dhikkara. However, because of the evil nature of the 'Time' (kaladosa) these measures became ineffective. afflicted subjects approached Usabha who advised them to elect a king and anoint (abhisea) him on the throne. People elected Usabha as their king and went to a lotus pond to fetch water for sprinkling over him. In the meanwhile, Sakka, the king of gods, along with the guardians of the quarters (lokapalasahiya), anointed Usabha and bestowed him with ornaments. The people having seen that Usabha has been already anointed by the gods poured the water on the feet of Usabha and hailed victory (jayasadda) to him. The king of gods got constructed a capital by name Viniya for the people and Usabha ruled the country of Kosala. The story further adds that Usabha, with a view to bring efficient administration, divided his officials

34 into four classes (gana), viz. ugga, bhoga, rainna and naga. Of these the uggas were guards (ayarakkha, wrong reading for arakkhaga (?) ), the bhogas were administrative officials h (bhoge bumjamti), the rainnas were the kith and kin of the king (Samavayamsa) and the nagas were messengers (kajian (veyaga)1 derived. From the above story certain observations may be The Jaina tradition, in agreement with the Buddhist and the Hindu traditions², accepts kingship as a necessity arising out of the decadence in moral values of the people. 3 The king was elected and also had the divine sanction ³. 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 157-62. 2. See Basham, A.L., "Ancient Indian Kingship" Indica, Vol.I, No. 2, p. 119. 3. Samkharaha, a king ruling at Purisapura and contemporary of Vasudeva, styled himself as devaputta. has been offered to explain this title. A Jaina story According to this story prince Samkharaha was born of the union of the princess of Purisapura and Nami, who was a Jaina monk who had gone astray, Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 308-09. It should be noted that the Kushan kings ruling at Purisapura in the early centuries of the Christian era styled themselves as devaputras.

35 The Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa has nothing new to offer in connection with the origin of kingship, but it exalts the king in one place to the status of a lokapala (the guardian of one of the four quarters). The king was conceived as the fifth 1 lokapala of the world and as such the people were expected to accept his overlordship inspite of the difference in religious faith. A pasamdi a hermit in the case given in the Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa - was expected to honour a king even though the latter was a follower of Jaina religion. Cakravartin:鈥擯arallel to the Tirthankara who was the saviour of the humanity in the spiritual field, Jainism also conceives the idea of a saviour endowed with temporal powers. He was the Cakravartin. Bharaha, the eldest son (padhamasuo) of Usabha, succeeded him to the throne of Kosala kingdom. On 1. Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa, II. 14b; Similarly in the Brahmanical conception the king is said to possess the essences (amsa) of the eight dikpalas; MDS, VII, 4, 7. 2. Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa, II. 14b.

36 the day Usabha attained omniscience an excellent disc (cakkarayana) 1 manifested itself in the armoury of king Bharaha. Following the path shown by the discus, Bharaha conquered the regions of Bharaha Vijaya both to the south and north of Veyaddha mountain². Sometimes as in cases of Samti, Kumthu and Ara³, the spiritual and the temporal powers were vested in the same person. On a lower level than the 'universal king' were the Rama-Kesavas who enjoyed sovereignty over half the portion of the Bharata Vijaya 4. Kingship : In imitation of the above two examples of kingship, both monarchy and diarchy seem to have been represented in the Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa Examples of the first are abundant, while of the second, i.e. diarchy are very few. Sori and Vira, prince - 1. A Cakkavatti is supposed to be endowed with fourteen jewels (coddasarayanahivo) and nine treasures, Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa 300. The Buddhist tradition refers to only seven jewels (rayana). For the details of the jewels and for the and for the sculptural representation of them at Jagayyapet, see Zimmer, Philosophies of India, pp. 130-31, pl. II. 2. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 186. 4. Ibid., 276-77, 311-15. 3. Ibid., 340-47.

37 brothers born in the Harivamsa family, ruled together without dividing the kingdom, treasury or the grainary¹. In another instance, king Mehasena and his younger brother both resided together in a capital but had divided their kingdom². connection. The Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa has nothing new to offer in this The Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa describes the personal qualities of many kings from which a rough notion of the ideal king and of his qualities, can be built up. A king was to be popular among the subjects (logabahumaa) ³ and respected by them (pagatimanio) 4. He was born in a respected family (kulaja) 5 and cter 6 and qualities such as truthfulness (saccasamdha) 7 and being compassionate towards those who have surrendered (saranagayavacchala) 8. The newly appointed had good moral character king is advised by his monk-uncle Vinhukumara to be regardful to the duty (dhamme sayaro) 9. King Seniya has been described as equal to a lion, sea, the moon, the sun and god, kubera in his prowess, depth (gambhira), complexion, splendour, and 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 111. 2. Ibid., 206. 3. Ibid., 139. 4. Ibid., 128. 5. Ibid., 227. 6. Ibid., 260-61. 7. Ibid., 242. 8. Ibid., 329. 9. Ibid., 131.

wealth respectively. and Kings taking liberty with others wives? employing vile tricks to attain their ends ³, have been censured. 38