Bruhat Katha kosha

Author(s): Harishen Acharya,
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

Page 44

INTRODUCTION
Yoga it became unquestionably orthodox. In view of these common points between Jainism, Samkhya and Buddhism and their common differences with the Aryo-Vedic religious forms, and in view of some of the peculiar tenets of Jainism in common with Ajivika, Purana Kassapa's order etc., I am inclined to postulate a great Magadhan religion, indigenous in its essential traits, that must have flourished on the banks of Ganges in eastern India long before the advent of the Aryans into central India; and possibly at the end of the Brahmana period these two streams of Aryan and indigenous religious thoughts met each other, and the mutual interaction resulted on the one hand into the Upanisads in which Yajnavalkya and others are, for the first time, preaching Atmavidya and on the other, in contrast to the Vedic ritualistic form of religion practised by the masses, into Jainism and Buddhism that came prominently to the fore as the strong representatives of the great heritage of Magadhan Religion."
According to Winternitz, all intellectual activities in ancient India were not confined only to Brahmaņas: there was not only Brahmanical literature, but there was also the Parivrājaka, Śramaņa or ascetic literature. These two representatives of intellectual and spiritual life in ancient India are well recognised by the phrase 'Samanas and Brahmaņas' in Buddhist sacred texts, by the reference to 'Samana Bambhana' in Asokan inscriptions, and by Megasthene's distinction between Brachmânai and Sarmânai. These two can be clearly distinguished by their different legends, ethical values and moral outlook. Brahmanical legends start from Vedic mythology; the great Rsis, the seers of Vedic hymns and law-givers, have achieved a position almost by the side of gods; and the gift given to the priest is a plenipotentiary. But the Sramanic legends deal with world-renouncing saints and ascetics devoted to severe penances. The Brahmanical ethics and moral creed are steeped in the system of castes; and renunciation, though admitted, does not play an important rôle. Knowledge of the Veda, sacrifice and respect to the Brāhmaṇas have been given great importance. Ethical values have a conventional import: charity means liberality towards the Brahmaņas; self-sacrifice implies absolute devotion to the priests; and the king's promotion to the heaven depends upon his obedience to the priest. But the ethical ideal of the ascetic poetry is different: here the ethical discipline and renunciation are practised as the means for obtaining emancipation; the saint fears no being and holds no terror to others; he is the exalted embodiment of self-denial and self-sacrifice; sages of all ranks practise these ideals; and Ahimsa and Maitri are the highest principles of moral life.
The ascetic morality is based on the belief in transmigration and Karman. Everywhere bitter complaints are expressed against the nature of Samsara; there is a pessimistic attitude towards life; and stress is laid on the eternal bliss of liberation. These ideas are hardly met with in the Veda. There are a few casual traces of the Karma doctrine in the Chandogya and Bṛhadaranyaka where characteristically enough it is taught 1 Pravancanasara, Intro., pp. 94-95.
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