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praised as opposed to the Brāhmaṇic ideals.' In the end, the parents and both the sons join the ascetic order. There is a similar thought-provoking dialogue in chapter XXV where the Jain sage Jayaghosa goes to the house of a Brāhmana named Vijayaghoșa for begging alms. On being turned out from the house of the Brahmana, Jayaghosa characterises the qualities of a true Brahmana in the following words:
"The one who has succeeded in overcoming love, hatred and fear, who is virtuous, practises austerities, has control over his senses, does not indulge in violence, does not speak untruth, does not take anything which is not given to him and who is not defiled by sensual pleasures, is called a Brāhmana."
8. The Ascetic Skandhaka Once a Brāhmaṇa mendicant named Khandaya (Skandhaka) of Katyayana gotra, a disciple of Gaddabhāli, was sojurning in Srāvasti. The mendicant was well-versed in the four Vedas, Itihasa-Purana, the fifth Veda, and Nighantu, the sixth Veda; six Vedārgas comprising sankhāna (mathematics), sikkhā (phonetics), kappa (rituals), vāgarana (grammer), chanda (metre), nirutta (exegesis), joisa (astronomy) and also the Satthitanta, an authoritative treatise on Samkhya philosophy.
In the same town there lived a layman named Pingalaka, a follower of Mahavira (vesāliyasāvaka). He approached the mendicant Skandhaka and asked him questions about finiteness and infiniteness of the world, the soul, liberation (siddhi), liberated souls (siddha) and wise (pandita) and unwise (bāla) death. We are told that the mendicant could not reply the said questions and thought of visiting Mahavira, who was moving about in the town of Kayangalā. The mendicant took his ritualistic paraphernalia such as triple staves, water-pot, rosary (kañcaniyā), earthen bowl (karodiyā), seat (bhisiyā), sweeping duster, teapoy, hook, copper ring and the forearm armament (ganettiyā). He wore clothes dyed with red-clay and put on umbrella over his head and set off to pay homage to Māhavira.
A long dialogue is recorded between Skandhaka and Mahāvira. Mahāvira propounded his doctrine of manysidedness of truth, explaining that from certain aspect, the world may be considered as limited (sa-ante) and from other aspect unlimited (ananta). He further explained the importance of four points of views: dravya (substance), ksetra (existence), käla (time) and bhāva (phenomenon). In other words, from the point of view of substance and existence the world is limited and from the point of view time and phenomenon it is unlimited.
In the end inspired by the teachings of Mahāvira, the mendicant Skandhaka was initiated into his order. He led a spiritual career and undertaking the vowed sallekhanā (fast unto death)
1. A similar dialogue between father and son is noted in the Mahabharata (XII.175) in which the father presents the point of view of a Brāhmana and the son that of an ascetic. Almost every verse uttered by the son here could just as well occur in a Buddhist or Jain text. Compare XII.174,177-179 of the Mahābhārata with the Uttarā (14-21-23) and XII. 174,13 with the Buddhist Dhammapada, 47f. A similar dialogue occurs in the Jätaka, No.509; Winternitz, History of Indian Lit., 1,417n 2. The following fourteen subjects of study (vijjatthana) are mentioned in the Uttara Com., 3,56a: the four Vedas, six Vedangas, Mimāmsā, Nyaya, Purāna and Dharmasastra. 3. Identified with Kankjol in Santhal Pargana in Bihar.
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