Slap On Face Of Brahmins Introducing A Little Known Jain Text Of Polemical Objectives

Author(s): A Wezler
Publisher: A Wezler
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/269520/1

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"A Slap on the Face of the Brahmins" Introducing a Little-Known Jain Text
of Polemical Objectives
Albrecht Wezler
1. In 1923 a pothi entitled Vedāsikušal was published in Ahmadabad as no. 5 of the Sri-Hemacandräcāryagranthavali. The editors were the Sravakapanditas Viracandra and Prabhudāsa. In the colophon the work is in fact called Dvijavadanacapeță Vedārkusah (sampurnah), and this expression is also used in the verse forming the conclusion of the text itself. Hence the oditors were most probably correct in their determination of its actual name: dvijavadanacapețā indeed looks very much like an addition intended to state explicitly the point which the author ultimately wants to make. That the result is a rather strange mixed metaphor does not seem to have bothered him, or the person who made the colophon.
1.1. The work clearly falls into two parts. The first part consists of 849 (numbered) verses which are introduced by višeşarp vină mahabharatadau / itihāsasamuccaye, i.e. in fact a note to inform the reader that the verses quolcd subsequently are taken from the 'Mahābhārata, etc., if no specification for the source) is given": itihasasamuccaye is the first of these
specifications' according to which the first two verses belong to the Itihāsasamuccaya, and they run thus:
srüyalar dharmasarvasvam śrutvā caivavadharyatam/ almanah pratikülāni pareşam na samācaret ///// slokārdhena pravaksyāmi yad ukia granihakoibhih/ paropakārah punyāya papaya parapidanam ///
Hence, these references, which always consist of the title of a particular work given in the locative, form a constituent part of the Vedärikuśa itself. The

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cditors have extracted these references for the readers' convenience, removed then to the left margin and separated them from the corresponding quotation by a dash. Indeed, this format considerably facilitates rapid orientation throughout the text.
The "adi of mahabharatadau in the introductory directional remark is made explicit, to some extent at least, by the concluding statement following upon verse 849, viz. iti mahabharatasmur tipuranadigalaslokah. Hence the author also states quite clearly that the verses which he has compiled and quotes in the first part of his work deal with dharmar, and this expression is evidently used here not in the peculiar technical meaning it has in Jainism itself, but in that meaning which is well-known from brahmanical, or hinduistic, sources, viz. 'normative rules of conduct' or 'rightful conduct' itsell.
All those texts which are not subsumed under mahabharatādi and hence mentioned by name in the body of the text whenever a verse from them is quoted are enumerated, in alphabetical order, in a list altached by the two editors to their "Prastávika" (written in Gujarati). It consists of the following 40 titles:
sary work carinot, however, be done here.
The two verses quoted above from the Itihasasamuccaya with which the Vedānkusa in fact begins are evidently cited for two reasons: (1) for their own sake, and (2) for the sake of indicating that particular type of the vast sphere of the dharma which will also be dealt with in the following 14 verses. That is to say, the 'golden rule" or rather the iniquity of parapidana and the outstanding importance of paropakāra, "doing good to others," which, to be sure, should imply more than just abstaining from "inflicting pain on other [living beings)", form the first topic which the Vedärkusa treats. The various topics or subjects' (visaya), each of which is always common to a number of verses and which in fact represents the very reason for the selection and juxtaposition, have been listed by the learned editors as a "Table of Contents" which has also been placed before the Vedänkusa text itself. But just as in the case of the titles of the works from which the author of the Vedänkuba quotes, the designations of the various visayas reoccur within the body of the text itsell, almost stereotypically in the form of atha plus the locative of the corresponding expression. These 'captions' of the individual chapters, which taken together make up the first part of the Vedärikusa, are regularly printed in bold and larger types and thus, no doubt, serve to facilitate the legibility of the book. However, with regard to them one wonders whether they, too, really form an original constituent part of the text itself, and it takes only a short time to arrive at the conclusion that they have evidently been added later, most probably by the editors themselves. Therefore, there is no such 'caption at the beginning of the first vişaya although the "Table of Contents" starts with the entry "7. paropakara" (followed by the number of the verse with which this 'chapter' starts). In addition, it should be noted that the subject is as a rule quite clearly indicated by the first verse of a 'chapter" itself, sometimes even by its very first word, e.g. p. 1a, 1.10'd harm a h (śruto'pi drsto'pi kuto va karito'pi val anwmodito'pi rajendra punäty saptamant kulam Il Mbh. (Poona ed.) 14. App. 4, verse 60), or at least by its first pada, e.g. p. 3a, 1.6: na papam papinambra ya tatha pāpam apāpinām / satyena tulyadoși syad asatyena dvidosabhäk, quoted from the Adityapurana) in the case of the chapter given the 'caption' atha nindāyām. Besides, one of these 'captions', albeit one which was not in cluded in the "Table of Contents" and which also differs from the others in
ingirasasmrti, Atreyasmrti, Adityapuräna, Adiparvatn), Ayurveda, Itihasa samuccayal, Uttaramimänisă, Rgveda, Kätyäyanasmrti, Grå, Govindakirtana, Caturthäranyaka, Taittiriya Aranyaka, Dakşasmrti. Devapurāņa. Dharmabästra, Nagarapurana, Padmapuräna. Päräsarasmrti, Brahmändapurāna, Byhadaranyaka, Byhaspatismpti, Bhagavata, Manusmrti, Mitākṣarā, Mrgendrapurāņa. Yajurveda, Yamasmçti. Yajavalkyasmrti. Vajasaneyasamphitä. Väsisthasmrti, Vivekavilāsa, Vişnupuräna, Vişnubhakti-candrodaya, Sarikhasmu, Sivapuräņa, Sukasamvāda, Syenasmçu, Samaveda and Skandapurāņa.
Some of these titles, e.g. Ayurveda or Dharmaśāstra, are quite unspecific; that is to say, they are rather names of traditional branches of learning than of individual texts. The necessary critical examination cannot, however, be confined to just such cases. In fact, cach and every quotation has to be traced back to its source, not only in order to complete the reference by adding more specific data, but also to take note of the context and to look out for possible variant readings, etc. Time and space being limited, this philologically neces

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the way it is formulated, viz, rajñapy ahirpisayam (p. 8b, 1.12), may be suspect in so far as the verses subsumed under it do not really deal with the "abstaining from injury, or killing, by the king, 100", but rather proclaim the ideal of the just or righteous king who indeed fulfills his central duty of "protecling" his subjects.
yatra sarve samasanti sa vai brāhmana ucyate II brālvano brahmacaryena yatha Silpena silpikah/ anyatha na mamatran syād indragopakakavat //12
Therefore, onc cannot but agree with the editors according to whose "Table of Contents" the last topic dealt with in the Vedänkuša is brālynanarvasiddhi. "establishing what constitutes a Iru c) Brahmin (according to our tradition)."13
Now this second part of the Vedänkusa is introduced by three Slokas which run thus (30b. 14-31a.1):
1.2. The second part of the Vedätkusa is not only clearly demarcated from the first part by the latter's concluding statement (p. 30b, 1.13) ili mahabharatasmrtipurānādigatadharmaflokäh, already mentioned above, but it is also of a distinctly different character: Although it contains similar quotations, both in verse as well as in prose, it is now the author of the Vedärkusa himself who speaks on his own behalf, and what he wishes to express he states almost right at the beginning, viz. p. 31a, 1.211.: yat tavat kenacid uktam-sarvapradhānā brāhmaṇā ii/ tar ko 'yam brālmano nāma?" kim sarirena? kim järyä? kim jlvena? kiyi kulena? kim yonya? kim
jñānena? kim Saucăcărena? kim tapasā? kim saskāreņa vā? iti / eteşām madhye kena brähmano bhavati? iti bravitu kaści(d) brāhmanas fatpaksapar val.
Already at first sight it is perfectly clear that ki Sarirena, etc., are but rhetorical questions, or rather questions asked merely to be answered in the negative, and without further elaboration and uncompromisingly at that. Indeed, the author does not waste any time, but immediately starts his refutation of the implied propositions, addressing them one after another in the sequence of their enumeration, viz. p. 31a, 1.6ff. SarTrena tavan na bhavati brahmanah / katham? brālmanaksatriyavaisyasūdrasartränäm avisesås, kir ca sukrasonitamajjästhisyamadivarnayauvanādinär ca bhedabhāvāt; kim ca mrtasya brähmanasya sarfradahane jatinam tathāgner[I] brahmahatyā syat I ato jñāyate śarīrena tävad brāhmaṇo na bhavati, and so forth.
But as one might expect he is not content simply to prove in this manner that none of these nine factors (sarfra, jāti, etc.) can be regarded as constituting brahminhood, but continues his argument by expressing his own opinion, viz. p. 32b, 1.8[f.:
vastutatvaviinanām ajñāsiddhividhayinām / căturvarnottamo viprah khyātah pujitah satkriah II ya ime vrsalā hlnäs te bhikṣāvratakarmaņi/ na deyam tepu na grāhyam varnair anyaih kadacana II paksapalam parityajya praslave'smin vicāryate / nyāyamargan gataih sadbhir yuktayuktapariksakaih II. Brahmins are declared to be the highest in rank) of the four warnas, are revered and received as honoured guests by those (only) who lack the true knowledge of things for: of reality and who execute the orders of the Brahmins exactly and devotedly. [The Brahmins, or those siding with them, say that those mean men who have lost their caste by the omission of their prescribed duties (and who have deserted from the true faith by becoming Jain monks) and who are engaged in ob serving the vow (of living on food obtained by begging (only). - these (men] should never be given anything) by (members of the other varnas (i.e. the Brahmaras, Ksatriyas and Vaisyas (and Südras?)) nor should these latter) accept (anything from them as a gift for: believe anything (they say). Good men showever) who are able to examine what is correct for: a valid argument) and what is not and who have chosen the path of logical lor: rational argumentation, will at this point of the exposition (which seems proper) impartially consider (scil. whether this contention of the Brahmins, and the opinion of the people who obey them blindly, is at all defendable and tenable).
Thus, the author of the Vedarikuśa, who at the very beginning of the second part of his work clearly announces what he intends to do, addresses himself not only to the problem of brāhunan atvasiddhi (in the sense explained
yo vāhayati papāni sa vai brāhmana ucyale / dānasllaksamd virya dhyanaprajiddayo gunah/

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find themselves ostracized.
The author concludes his work by giving, in three verscs, the last two of which are significantly composed in a more complicated metre (Malini), the following remarkable advice (which is practically tantamount to directions for the use of the Vedānkuća): 18
above), but also to related questions, such as tirthasnana, etc., as an alleged means of gaining merit, or the killing of animals in sacrifice. These kind of brahmanical teachings' which are, of course, absolutely anathematic to a Jaina, are, as one might expect, dwelt on: attention is drawn to kāmamithyācārāgamyāgamanapratipădikāni and additādānapratipādikāni vacanani, to mrşāvādasamsūcakam vacanam and madyapānapratipädikani vacanäni, but now the author quotes from Vedic texts, too. But there still remains something further which is even more improper, in the view of the Jain author, than having unlawful sexual intercourse, taking of what is not given, lying or drinking alcoholic beverages (practices which the reader is given to understand are recommended by, approved of or habitually indulged in by the Brahmins), and this aparan viruddhataram, as it is called, is the irreconcilable contradiction belween what is taught in the brahmanical sources about the proper way of dealing with Sūdras and the actual practice of Brahmins as it can be observed in everyday life. And it is obviously not only the author's own experience, but also what he considered to be common knowledge, which prompts him to almost exclaim (35a. 11.): sarvam etac chudrapratigrahadikam anushiyate (one feels tempted to add an eva here), na kimcid brälumunena parityaktam/ tasmat parhamatram eva kevalam iti viruddhavacanam bhavari. The topic of complete discrepancy between ideal and reality, norm and adherence to it is then pursued further, viz. to Manusmrti 4.61:17 "Let him not dwell in a country where the rulers are Sülias, nor in one which is surrounded by unrighteous men, nor in one which has become subject to heretics, nor in one swarming with men of the lowest castes" (Bühler's translation), upon which the author of the Vedānkusa comments thus (35b. 13): tad evam viruddhavacanena sakalaprthivyām apy avasthanan nästīti pratipāditam, "and in this way, what is conveyed by this statement which is at variance with reality, is that there is not a single place on the whole earth where a Brahmin could live!"
The argument of the second part of the Vedānkuša is finally wound up by arriving at the conclusion (35b. 13.): kim bahuna? anena prakārena caturnām varņānām madhye bahişkstā brāhmana ity avasiyate, "in short, what is clearly discerned in this manner is that the Brahmins amongst the four varnas are excluded from the society in general]". Thus the tables are finally lumed and it is now the Brahmins, and not any longer the Jain monks, who
brahmanotkarşavadenātmānam yah pratipadyate (recte: opadyate) / sa vaktavyah sada sadbhir vedayuktaih subhasitaih // dvijavadanacapelām nyāyalattvesu mudrām/ śrutipadakstamātrāśrenibhangaikadakşam // dvijasadasi nişano yah samutkarpatīmām/ kşanabhapi (recte: ksanam api) na purastat tasya tisthanti viprah II. A man who considers himself superior to others by referring to the eminence of the Brahmins can be and is to be rebuked and put in his place by good people with the help of witly sayings together with stalements of the Veda. The Brahmins do not stand even for a moment in front of a man li.c. flee as soon as possible from a man) who seals himself on a Brahmin's place and (then) gives him a slap on the face which consists of not mincing one's words with regard to the truth according to rational thought, (a slap) which is uniquely fit for: which alone is able to destroy the sequence of syllable instants (?) produced by the words of the Vodic texts.
And thus at the very end of the work it becomes entirely clear that the "slap on the face" is not, of course, to be taken literally, and also that the title Vedänkuša itself is not only metaphorical, but cannot but be a karmadharaya compound meaning "a goad in the form of Vedic utterances." And, to be sure, like a real goad, this special one in the hands of a Jain or a Jain monk) is also considered as being used only to urge on the elephant-like Brahmins so that they avoid the wrong path (kupatha, etc.), return to the right one (sanmärga, etc.) and thus in their tum also reach the final goal (but, of course, alone, i.e. without their 'mahout').
2. In the colophon it is stated, immediately after that part which has already been quoted above (p. 2), that "Uhis is a work of Hemacandrasüri" (krtir iyan Hemacandrasurinā). And it is obviously this assertion on which

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the two editors, and other people also, base their conviction that Hemacandra (fl. 1150) is the author of the Vedankusa and that this work should therefore be included in his "Granthavali." Certainly they, too, will have doubted for at least a moment the trustworthiness of this statement because they are honest enough to add the remark that "according to what is said in another manuscript [this work] was composed by Haribhadrasuri" (Haribhadrasuriviracitā [iti pratyantare]). G. Bühler does not refer to the Vedankusa in his famous monograph Ueber das Leben des Jaina Mönches Hemachandra ...;19 evidently it was not only unknown to him,20 as no manuscript of it had yet been discovered, but it was obviously also not mentioned in the "biographical" text material on which his study is based. Pandit Sukhlal Sanghvi, on the other hand, seems to have taken the Dvijavadanacapeţă to be an authentic work of Haribhadra's, for he lists it along with many others in Pariśişta 221 attached to his booklet Samadarsi Acārya Haribhadra. But if I am not mistaken, he does not even refer to it in his booklet itself, not to speak of providing any evidence for the correctness of this ascription.
So we are faced with the problem of the authorship of the Vedarkusa alias Dvijavadanacapeţă. At least one attempt at solving it should be made; it is suggested by a remark of Bühler's, found on p. 35 (38) of his monograph just mentioned: "... and in the text of his work itself [viz. Hemacandra's Yogaśästra] at 3.21,26 Manu's prohibitions against the eating of meat are inserted, his name being mentioned." As the Manusmrti is the Dharmasastra work which is most often quoted in the Vedänkuśa, it will be interesting to check whether there is any agreement in this regard between the Vedänkusa and the other work the authorship of which is beyond any doubt, the Yogaśāstra.
In the first instance Manu is actually mentioned, but the preceding verse of the Yogaśästra (3.20) runs as follows:
hantā palasya vikreta samhartā bhakṣakas tatha / kretä'numantā dātā ca ghataka eva yan manuḥ Il
In the autocommentary it is explained that yan manuh has been added samvadartham, "in order to show that he agrees [with what Hemacandra himself has said]"; and the next verse which is in fact verbatim identical to
"A Slap on the Face of the Brahmins"
Manusmrti 5.51 (anumantā visasita nihantä krayavikrayi/ samskartā copaharta ca khadakaś ceti ghatakah II) is introduced, in the commentary, by the remark: mänavam evoktam darśayati. In a similar manner, viz. by dvitiyam api manavam slokam aha, the subsequent verse (3.22) is introduced which is identical to Manusmrti 5.48:
näkṛtvā prāṇinām himsäm mämsam utpadyate kvacit/
na ca prāṇivadhaḥ svargyas tasman māmsam vivarjayet ||
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In the case of the second passage referred to by Bühler we have to do with an excellent adaptation of Manusmrti 5.55, for Yogaśāstra 3.26 reads thus:
mām sa bhakṣayitāmutra yasya mamsam ihādmy aham/ elan māsasya mamsatve niruktam manur abravit ||
This corresponds to the Manu verse except for the last four words, for in the Smrti the reading is mämsatvam pravadanti manişiṇaḥ!
If now the corresponding section of the Vedänkuša, viz. the one "on meat" (atha mamse), is compared with these verses of the Yogakastra, it becomes immediately clear that not only Manu 5.51 (= YS 3.21) and 5.48 (= Y$ 5.22) are quoted there, too, (viz. 28a. 6 and 7), but also Yogaśästra 3.20 and 26 (viz. 28a. 5 and 11) and not, to be sure, Manusmrti 5.55. And finally one realizes that it is in fact only 'Yogaśästra verses' which are quoted here, and, to wit many more than just these four, namely 15 in total, viz. YS 3.18-32, and in exactly the same sequence at that (cf. Vedänkusa 28a. 3-28b. 2)123
Now, this clearly rules out the possibility that the Haribhadra who flourished A.D. 750 composed the Vedankusa; of course, one could still think of one of the later Haribhadras, just as in the case of Hemacandra of his later namesake.24 But this would certainly mean to give too much importance to the colophon of just one manuscript (provided there is no other evidence at all). It is decidedly better to regard the authorship of Hemacandra to whom we also owe the Yogaśāstra, among other works, as highly probable, i.e. to start from this working hypothesis. But there is, admittedly, still another possibility, viz. that it was a later author, perhaps even a disciple of Hemacandra, who culled verses from Hemacandra's Yogaśästra;25 and this is precisely why the quantity of slokas found in both works, the Vedarikusa as well as the

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Yogaśāstra, why the extent of the agreement between these two texts, is of no importance as regards the problem of the authorship. In order to examine this latter alterative it would rather be necessary to carry out a minute comparison between certain parts of the Vedārkusa, first of all those verses which have clearly been composed by its author himself, and the authentic works of Hemacandra in terms of style, vocabulary, etc. But this presupposes a familiarity with the works of the famous Jain polymath which I unfortunately still lack, so that I beg to be excused if I close the discussion for the time being by simply repeating that it seems very probable indeed that llemacandra is the author of the Vedänkusa, also in view of what is said about his erudition, his life and his relation with Brahmins, and the Brahmins' attitude towards him, in Bühler's highiy informative and remarkable book 26 on the life of lemacandrācārya.
(1) that the Jains (as well as the Buddhists) opposed the brahmanical priests (1924: 323 (371]). did not accept their claim of superiority (1951: 74), or rather denied it strictly (1924: 313 (3671): (2) that they considered Hinduism to be a kind of degenerated Jainism (1924: 319 (367]) and the Hindus to have deserted from the true faith (1926: 345); (3) that they, although they themselves strictly adhered to the caste system (1924: 314 [362]) (and the varna system), had their own myth about the creation of the varnas, including that of the (true) Brahmins, (1926: 341f.: cf. 1951: 80)," and (4) that they described in this connection what true Brahmins are to them (1924: 314 [362]).
3. If the information I was able to gather is correct.27 practically no work has been done so far on the special subject of the criticism directed by Jain authors against the Brahinins, or Hinduism in general, not to speak of a comprehensive study of its historical development-after all even in Jainism changes are not entirely unlikely. What we have, in contradistinction, is von Glasenapp's short, though informative article on "Die Polemik der Buddhisten und Brahmanen gegen die Jainas. "2This scholar has, albeit much earlier. also discussed the position of Jainism within the history of Indian religions and its relation to other religious doctrines, his attention being focussed on the influence to which Jainism was exposed, and which it in its tum exercised on other religions. However, from these two articles of von Glasenapp's along with a third one likewise belonging to the early period of his scholarly activity much can be learnt about the attitudes of Jainism and Jains, especially of course of monastic authors, scholars and savants, towards the community of the Brahmins. For the most part, however, it is rather general facts or ideas that are communicated by von Glasenapp, in short a type of information one would expect to and can certainly find in general books on Jainism as well. Nevertheless, it may be useful to just recall what is pointed out by this late German scholar. Even if his assertion that "Jainism is a movemeni" directed against the predominance of Brahmins" (1924: 375 [363]) is definitely an exaggeration, to say the least, it is no doubt true:
It is clear why it was first of all the Brahmins who became the target of Jain criticism and polemics, and not one of the other varmas or Hinduism as such: They recognized the Brahmins to be responsible, both historically and morally, for the theory of their own superiority, for the killing of animals in sacrifice, etc. and it cannot be denied that they were right to a great extent. The antipathy which did not fall short of denouncing the other group as morally wicked, etc., was of course a mutual one; but it would be stupid to even ask the question when it began and by which side it was started, for it was bound to arise-it was in almost all its aspects an inevitable confrontation. In any case, this continuous, and still continuing, process is a historical fact which fully deserves the attention of scholars.
This holds true, I think, for the Vedānkuśa, loo, in spite of the fact that, at least for the time being, one may harbour doubts about its originality. But even if this little work could be shown to be dependent on earlier sources, both as regards the arguments in substance as well as the method applied in argumentation (e.g., contrasting the actual practice of Brahmins with their own normative scriptures), it should be studied more closely. In any case, it should not be totally ignored, and for many reasons, I think: Its first part, the contents of which have been briefly outlined above ($1.1), holds one's allention in that it consists almost entirely of quotations from brahmanical texts. And there cannot be any doubt that the intention of the author of the Vedänkusa, Hemacandra, is in this part, too, a critical or even polemical one.

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remark that there are not a few Jains and Jains monks, and nuns, too, whom one cannot but pay deep respect for the degree of pious strictness they exhibit in observing in everyday life the rules and regulations of their own tradition.97
Notes
Yet, apparently, his primary aim here is not to mirror to the Brahmins their rules of conduct in order to make them realize how far they have actually diverted from them; it looks rather as though he selected such elements of Ilindu dharma, and for each a considerable number of relevant passages (also or perhaps primarily for the use of others), which fall in line with Jain ethics themselves! If this is correct, what he wants to intimate is, of course, that much of the truth of Jainism can also be found in brahmanical literature (which for that very reason can be drawn upon by him eclectically), but also that those injunctions, and they alone, need to be taken seriously and all practices contradicting them must be abandoned. But, again, this is a point in the present article that would call for elaboration which I am not able to offer right now.
In addition, the first part of the Vedänkuša stands out as a collection of dicta of great significance in terms of Indian ethics and history of ideas in general. And anybody is free to profit from Hemacandra's remarkably wide reading, and to take his compilation as an easily accessible treasury of which one can make use for oneself ad libitum, reading with much sympathy, nay delight, in spite of not being a Jain oneself, verses like the following (4b. 4rf.):
ekatahralavah sarve samagravaradaksinām (recte: onā)/ ekato bhayabhllasya prāņinah prāņaraksanam // idam eva purà devas tulayā samatolayan (recte: Cyal) / pränaraksanam eveha gauravenātiricyate II jarigamini ca bhūtāni sthivarani ca ye narah/ a timavat parirakganti e yanli paraman galin /.
1. The interpretation of this tide will be given later in the present article. Here I
would just like to mention that in a still unpublished doctoral dissertation (submitted to the University of Trivandrum) by N. V. Kunjamma, viz. "Rāmavarma-yaobhüşana by Sadasivadiksita: A Critical Edition and Study." a work entitled Nafarikura is mentioned, ascribed to a certain Uddanda Sistrin (ca. 15th century), in which the defects in certain practices in Küriyatam perfor mance are dealt with." In contradistinction to Vedärikula, in the title Nagarikuša
those who need to be urged with a goad are directly named. 2. Ed. by Jagajivan Utamacand sa, Palianastha-Srr-Hemacandracarya-sabhayah
Sekretart, Ahmedabad 1923 (number of copies: 250, prize 0-6-01!). This is however, already the second edition (dvidlyd dvrtti), and I don't know when the first was published; according to Prof. Dr. Chandrabhal Tripathi's communication this is the only edition of the text, and no commentary has come to light until
now, Prof. Tripathi did not also know of any studies on it. 3. Quoted below. p. 2. 4. It should, however, be noted that here, and in all the other instances when I use
the expression quote', the usual it is absent in the text(s) referred to 5. For months I have tried my very best to get hold of this text either in India or in
Europe, but until now without success. The only edition which I was able to find in bibliographies is that published in 1916 in Bombay by the Verkaçeśvara Press. According to what is said on this work in A. Holtzmann's Das Mahabharata und seine Teile, vol. 3, Kiel 1894, pp. 571., it seems to be a very interesting text, not only in terms of the reception of the Mahabharata in India, and it should therefore
certainly be reprinted. 6. I should add here that this article was written during a stay in Tokyo (April
1990), and that I was also a little restricted by the fact that it would simply have taken too much time to try to get hold of all the Sanskrit texts required. At the same time I should like to avail myself of the opportunity to thank Prof. Dr. Minoru Hara and Dr. Akira Yuyama for the assistance which they have kindly
I hope that, if not the present article as a whole, then at least this excerpt will convince the reader that the Vedänkusa is not the least valuable and interest ing work of the extraordinarily rich and vast Jain literature to the understanding and knowledge of which Prosessor Deleu has contributed so much. And as for the controversy between the Jains and the Brahmins, it is, I think. not unfair to quole a dictum of my friend S. A. Srinivasan's late father, Mr. Srinivasa Ayya Sastri, who used to say ironically that "occasionally one comes across a true Brahmin even in India," and to add on my part the

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rendered me by supplying books and permitting me to use their own and their institutes' libraries.
7. Cf. W. Halbfass, Studies in Kumarila and Sankara, Reinbek 1983, p. 2 and n. 5, as well as p. 6 and n. 26.
8. Since I used a xeroxcopy, and not the edition itself, I am not sure that the distinction between verso (a) and recto (= b) is correct, here and in the other cases.
9. On this Puriņa see now L. Rocher, The Puranas, A History of Indian Literature 2.3, Wiesbaden 1986, p. 134.
10. They are, however, not numbered consecutively, but the enumeration starts again after each prose passage.
11. It should be noted that I generally follow the orthography and punctuation of the edition(s) used.
12. As for this word and the living being denoted by it (which is indeed not "a protector of Indra," but perhaps itself "protected by Indra [in so far as this god gives rain]"), cf. S. Lienhard's article "On the meaning and use of the word indragopa," Indologica Taurinesia 6 (1978) (= Proceedings of the Third World Sanskrit Conference [Paris, 20-25 June 1977]), pp. 177-188. 13. The first part of the Vedänkusa contains also a long 'chapter' on dvijatva (p. 14a, 1.3-p. 18a, 1.12), but in accordance with the division of the text as such into two systematically and formally different parts, it is entirely devoted to quoting brahmanical sources on this subject. Hence the material collected in it throws light on the question how the Brahmins perceived themselves as a distinct and highly privileged group.
14. Read either catur" or "varnyo".
15.. In view of the expression bhikṣävratakarmani I don't think that this verse refers to the Brahmins, i.e. that they are the vṛsala hinah here. Unfortunately the way in which the author expresses himself is very concise indeed.
16. Of course, viruddhatara, too, could refer, or also refer, to the gap between theory and practice.
17. Strangely enough in the text itself this verse is said to belong to the "eleventh" (ekādase) adhyaya of the Manusmrti; I don't know what to make of this assertion
except for assuming that the author committed an error or that his memory failed. 18. This may well be the reason why the first part consists only of quotations: The author has collected, and with remarkable diligence at that, relevant passages from a great number of brahmanical texts and now offers the results of his reading to the members of his own community for their use.
19. Wien 1889. An English translation, prepared by Manilal Patel, was published
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1936 in Santiniketan (as no. 11 of the Singhi Jaina Series) under the title The Life of Hemacandracarya by Prof. Dr. G. Bühler. In the following, references to this translation are always added in parentheses.
20. Cf. G. Bühler, op. cit., p. 3 (2), p. 44 (49) where he speaks of the list of Hemacandra's works as "having now been exhaustively mentioned"--and p. 13 (14) where the expression "authentic works of Hemacandra's" is used.
21. In a footnote it is, however, explained: Yogasataka parisista 6 ke ädhär par, katipay parivartanom ke sath[!].
22. Ed. by Santilal M. Jain, Rajasthan Puratan Granthamalā no. 68, Jodhpur 1963. (This book was kindly made accessible to me by Prof. Dr. K. Bruhn.)
23. There is another instance of a verse of the Yogaśästra (3.31) being identical to a verse in the Manusmrti (5.32) which clearly shows that the former text also calls for a thorough and detailed study. The edition used by me is Yogasästra with the Svopajñavivarana, Bhavnagar: Jainadharmaprasärakasabhā, 1926.
24. On this second Hemacandra, see G. Bühler, op. cit., n. 53 on pp. 74f. (83f.). 25. A careful comparison of the Yogaśästra and the Vedänkuśa might lead to the discovery of even more parallels or identical verses.
26. Cf. pp. 16 (16), 19f. (19.), 22 (23), 27 (29), 29 (32), 35f. (38ff.), 40 (45), 46 (52), and n. 78 on p. 83 (92).
27. My thanks are due to Prof. Dr. Chandrabhal Tripathi also in this regard. Some information, though primarily on the criticism of systems of brahmanical philosophy by Jain authors, can, however, be found in W. Bollée's Studien zum Suyagada.... Teil 1, Wiesbaden 1977, pp. 51 and 78; in H. Nakamura's History of Early Vedanta Philosophy, Delhi 1987, pp. 266-293 (on the relationship between Jain philosophy and Vedänta); and in N. Balbir's article "The Perfect Sūtra as Defined by the Jains," Berliner Indologische Studien 3 (1987), pp. 16ff. Last but not least I should like to mention an article (in Japanese) by Atsushi Uno, published in the Proceedings of the Okurayama Institute for Cultural Research 1 (1954), pp. 55-69, which is listed in K. H. Potter's Bibliography of Indian Philosophies, Delhi 1983, under the somewhat misleading title "On a work of Hemacandra," but is in reality dealing with "The Criticism directed against Non-Jains from the Viewpoint of Jainism on the Basis of a Work of Hemacandra's," viz. the 32 verses of the Anyayogavyavacchedikā Dvātrimśikā which are quoted and translated.
28. Originally published in Beiträge zur indischen Philologie und Altertumskunde. W. Schubring zum 70. Geburtstag dargebracht, Hamburg 1951, pp. 74-83, referred to in the following as ([v. Glasenapp] 1951); this article is among those

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500 Albrecht Wezler "A Slap on the Face of the Brahmins" 501 | 27 have been taken over from the Mbh., but they in fact show similarities to Mbh. verses (e.g. 12.170.10). I must confess that I am rather sceptical of the correctness of the mespretation which v. Glasenapp (indirecty) gives of the verse from the Prabandhacintamani which he quotes at the very end of his article (1951), and in a German translation at that which is rather difficult to swallow. I think Merulunga's verse (srolavyah saugato dharmah kartavyah punar arhatah / vaidiko vyavaharlavyo dhyalavyah paramah sivah Il; versc 104 in Muni Jinavijayajl's ed., Santiniketan 1933) has rather to be understood in the context of what Buhler says on the corresponding legend and the historical truth it probably contains (cf. op. cit., pp. 21f. (21f.)). and should not be taken as testimony of the idea of doctrinal tolerance', i.e. of the idea that "the various religious and philosophical systems are but different expressions of the human desire for salvation and have equal rights." ADDENDA reprinted in: H. v. Glasenapp, Ausgewahlte Kleine Schriften, hrsg. von H. Bechert u. V. Moller, Wiesbaden 1980, pp. 440-449. 29. "Die Stellung des Jainismus in der indischen Religionsgeschichte und sein Verhaltnis zu anderen Glaubenslehren," originally published in: Zeitschrift fur Buddhismus 6 (1924/25), pp. 313-330, and also reprinted in Ausgewahlte Kleine Schriften, pp. 361-378; when referring to this article, viz. by ([v. Glasenapp) 1924), the figures added in parentheses refer to the reprint. 30. Viz. "Das Trisastilaksanamahapurana der Digambaras," Beitrage zur Literatur wissenschaft und Geistesgeschichte Indiens. Festgabe H. Jacobi zum 75. Geburtstag ... dargebracht ..., hrsg. v. W. Kirsel, Bonn 1926, pp. 331-345, referred to as (Iv. Glasenapp) 1926). 31. In the German original the word "Bewegung" is found which could still be used in such a sense in 1926. 32. Glasenapp refers here also to an article of K. P. Pathak's, viz. "A Nole on the early Kadamba Inscriptions," JA 14 (1885), pp. 127. 33. Glasenapp (1951: 83) reports that "Dayanand Sarasvati severely criticizes the Jains for their intolerance, by referring to various passages of the Prakaranaratnakara and the Vivekasara, because they regard their own as the 'only true church' and even prohibit their followers to have social intercourse with the adherents of other religions." 34. An inventory of the various types of adaptations as well as purposes which quotations like those of the Vedarikusa are made to serve is still a desideratum of Indology. The keyword 'adaptation', of course, brings to one's mind also E. Frauwallner's observations on Dignaga's Traikalyaparsksa in his article "Dignaga, sein Werk und seine Entwicklung," WZKSO 3 (1959), pp. 83-164, especially pp. 1071f. and 145ff. A. Akamatsu's observation regarding a karika in Santaraksita's Tattvasamgraha and "the different use" to which it is put by Karnakagomin is also noteworthy in this connection; cf. his article in Indogakuho (Indological Review] 3 (1981), p. 54. 35. In this respect it should be noted that the Jains are of the opinion that the Veda has by and large been falsified by the Brahmins; cf. c.g. H. v. Glasenapp, Der Jainismus ..., Berlin 1925, p. 269 together with n. 60 and Pathak's article referred to in n. 31 above. 36. This verse corresponds almost fully to Mahabharata (Poona ed.) 3.643.1p. (= vol. 3, p. 427) except for the fact that the reading in pada b is samapla (varao) and in dodharanam, and that the readings which are attested in the Vedankusa are not mentioned in the apparatus of the Mbh. The two subsequent verses appear not to Although I was not able in the course of the last two and a half years to continue my work on the Vedankusa in a systematic manner, yet I have chanced upon additional information which seems to be of some importance for what I have written in my brief essay, while not, however, leading to any corrections or revisions:. I should like to draw attention to the "Introduction" of A. B. Dhruva's edition of the Syadvadamasjari (BSPS LXXXIII), Bombay 1933, as regards my article as a whole. As for the list of works of Hemacandra's cf. also: The Yoga Shastra of Hemachandracharya u. by A. S. Gopani, Mevanagar 1989, p. 274. Similar polemical works have been composed by Buddhist monks, too; cf. e.g. J. W. de Jong's article "Buddhism and the equality of the four castes" in: Earliest Buddhism and Madhyamaka, ed. by D. Seyfort Ruegg and L. Schmithausen, Leiden 1990, p. 58, and, with regard to the Vajrasuci in particular, Minoru Hara's article "Vajrasuci 3-4" in: Nakagawa Zenkyo Sensei Jutaku Kinnen Ronshu. Bukkyo to Bunka, Kyoto 1983, pp. 221-241. Finally, I should like to add that L. Rocher (see note 9 above) mentions on p. 146 f. a number of texts (dealing with the problem whether the Bhagavata (purana) is a mahapurana or not) the citles of which also contain the word capetika, "slap in the face".