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A. CHAKRAVARTI : as one of the liberal Aryans till he changed side. It would not be far wrong to suggest that the Eastern Aryans who were opposed to the sacrificial ritualism and who were led by the kșatriya heroes were believers in ahimsă doctrines and as such the forefathers of the Jainas. This liberal school created out of itself, about the time of Mahāvīra, another radical school led by another kșatriya hero in the person of Gautama sākyamuni, the founder of Buddhism. In the life of Gautama Buddha the Sākya clan to which he belongs is traced? to the Ikşvāku dynasty which played a very important part in shaping the culture of ancient India. But even in Purāņic Hinduism the services of the kşatriya heroes are recognised in as much as they are elevated as avatāras of Vişnu for whom temples are raised and worship is conducted. It is strange that this doctrine of ahimsā should be preached by kşatriya heroes who were generally associated with military exploits and who went about with bow and arrow.
How ahimsā came to be associated with them remains a mystery. But the fact that they were the founders of the doctrine of ahimsā is a fact which cannot be doubted. That these kşatriya leaders, wher
1 For a detailed discussion of the sources which trace the origin of the Sākya clan to the Ikşvākus, see B. C. Law: Some Ksatriya Tribes of Ancient India (1924), pp. 162 f. Also see Sumangalavilāsini, part I, pp. 258-60 ; Mahāvamsa (Ed. Geiger), Chapter II, verses 1-24; Vişnu Purana (Ed. Wilson), Vol. IV, Chapter XXII, pp. 167-72; Mahāvastu (Ed. Senart), Vol. I, pp. 348-52.
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