Beating Of Brahmins

SR No.: 269641
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Colette Caillat
Publisher: Colette Caillat
Total Pages: 7
Language: English
Classification: Article
File Size: 930 KB

Page 4

260
COLETTE CAILLAT
THE BEATING OF THE BRAHMINS
261
'ro split Ambattha's head if he does not tell the truth about his birth and rank to the Bhagavat (ibid. 95,7-13)." Such tales have been explained as referring to an ancient "method of punishment for a variety of crimes" which consisted in beating the perpetrator to death with a blunt instrument of some type"."
Proclamation made by the purohita's wife, Bhadra. In effect, she is the witness qualified to testify to the perfect self-control and chastity of Harikesa - the virtues which are deemed essential for a framaņa. Bhadra's declaration, therefore, amounts to an "Act of Truth.
This is a penalty similar to that which, in Utt 12, is inflicted upon the supporters of the unworthy brahmins by some terrible looking Asuras/ Yaksas standing in the air. The boys' ordeal stops after their teacher has solemnly proclaimed the real state of affairs, i.e. the youngsters' stupid ignorance of the true superiority of rsis and munis like Harikesa over the so-called brahmaņas. He actually makes a full public apology
balehi müdhehi ayanaeht jam hiliya tassa khamäha bhante:
maha-ppasdyd isino havanti na hú muni kova-para havanti (31), *Forgive, sir, these ignorant, stupid boys, that they injured you; sages are exceedingly gracious, nor are the saints inclined to wrath". 21
3. This procedure, as W. Norman Brown writes, is based on the ancient Indian "belief that Truth has a power which a person with the right qualifications can invoke to accomplish wonders or miracles:" it is effective because it is based on the rare phenomenon of personal duty completely fulfilled"2" W. Norman Brown adds that it is ... frequently based upon the quality of some other being who is used as a dynamic reference, rather than a quality of the one who makes the Truth Declaration. This is precisely the situation in Utt 12: Bhadrà testifies to the ascetic's virtue and, as a result, actually 'extinguishes the aggressors' wrath,
kuddhe kumare parinivvavel (20d). She goes on to admonish them, quote relevant aphorisms (23; 26f.), and advise every one to make obeisance and go for refuge to the sage (sisena eyam saranam uveha, 28a). Thus the purohita's wife and the Yakşas' action do not overlap but complement cach other; by combining both the poet implicitly reminds us of the Yaksa-Yakşini couples who flank the Tirthamkaras. At the same time, the interplay between the Yaksas and Bhadrà gives a kind of human touch to the whole scene, which culmi
Fundamentally a similar course of events is related in the Mätanga-Ja: Mandavya, who has food distributed to 16 000 brahmins, endeavours to frighten away the candala ascetic Matanga who stands by, waiting for alms (Ja IV 379.9-382.18). In return, Mandavya and the brahmins find themselves with necks twisted, arms stretched, eyes white as if they were dead (383.13-22). Mandavya's mother, who understands the situation, looks for Mátanga and asks him about the matter: "Who is it who made my son so? To which Mätanga replies: The powerful Yaksas, who escort the rşis."
In the Utt story (as in the Matanga-Ja) the boys' punishment appears as the reversal of the previous situation when they attacked Harikesabala (18f.). Their attack is checked by the Yaksas' intervention, but this, in turn, is prompted by the solemn
See Insler, op. cit. p. 102ff, who also refers to comparable stories in the Brahmanic literature. * See S. Insler, op. cit. p. 104ff., for references to Manu. *Cf. supra, Un 12.25. * Jacobi's translation.
** Ja IV 383.25"-29" - 385.6_9: avethicar pirthito uttamangam /... ko me imam purtam akdslevam?
Ibid. 385.11.14: yakınd have santi mahanubhdvd / anvdgard Isayo.../yakınd i te purtam akamsu evan
Un 12.24: cydr tise vayandi socca parril Bhaddai su-hasiyam
isissa veyvadly 'arthayde jakthd kamdre vinivárayanti, 'having heard these well-spoken words of the purohita's) wife Bhadra, the Yaksas, in order to assist the rol, keep the boys off." - For 240, the Cürni reads vinlay yanti vinipdrayanti (a variant noted by Santisuri, cf.JAS p. 139 n. 3; Charpentier, p. 325).
She is qualified by ber personal experience: she knows undoubtedly that Harikesa has in no way been tempted by her charms, though she had been offered to him (cf. Utt, supra; also the Utt commentaries, summarized in SBE 45, p. 50, n. 1).
For another example of a Truth Act in the Jain literature, see W. Norman Brown, op. cit., p. 109 and n. 13.
Op. cit. p. 102. He emphasises that far from being any empirical truth, in such cases, it is Truth as the metaphysical basis of the cosmic order' (p. 110, 112), and that "Perfection in Truth is needed (p. 105). Further the success of the Act is not dependent in any degree upon the favor or grace or will of any deity. It operates only at the will of the person who possesses the Act... (p. 109).
* Idem, op. cit. p. 110. * Idem, op. cit. p. 105.
Bhavavijaya: parinirvapayati, krodhagal-vidhydpanena Sil-karoti.