Question
Describe the social and economic background of the rise of Jainism and Buddhism.
Solution
Social background of the rise of new religions:
(a) The post-Vedic times society was clearly divided into four varnas: Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. Each varna was assigned well-defined functions.
(b) Varna was based on birth and only the two higher varnas like the Brahmanas and the Kshatriyas were given some privileges.
(c) The Brahmanas were the teachers and priests, who claimed the highest status in the society. The Kshatriyas who fought, governed and lived on the taxes collected from the peasants ranked second in the society. The Vaishyas were engaged in agriculture, trade etc. The Shudras were meant for serving the three higher in varnas and they were barred from taking to Vedic studies.
(d) They appear as domestic slaves, agricultural slaves, etc. They were called cruel, greedily and thieving in habits and some of them were treated as untouchables.
(e) The higher the varna the more privileges and purer, the lower the varna of an offender, the more severe was the punishment prescribed for him.
(f) So the varna-divided society seems to have generated tensions.
Economic background of the rise of new religions:
(a) The real cause of the rise of these new religions lay in the introduction of a new agricultural economic north-eastern India.
(b) In these areas of iron, tools made possible clearance culture and large settlements. The economy based on the iron required the use of cattle. Without animal husbandry, agriculture could not flourish.
(c) The Vedic practice of killing cattle indiscriminately in sacrifices stood in the way of the progress of new agriculture.
(d) The cattle wealth slowly decreased because the cows and bullocks were killed in numberless in the Vedic sacrifices. But if the new agrarian economy had to be stable this killing had to be stopped.
(e) The use of coins facilitated trade and commerce in the fifth century B.C., which added to the importance of the Vaishyas who ranked third in the society.
