Idea of Ahimsa and Asceticism in Ancient Indian Tradition

Author(s): Bansidhar Bhatt
Publisher: B J Institute

Page 16

AHMSA, ASCETICISM ....
morning prayer which is effective as an incantation that averts the evil which he would otherwise meet with in the next world. Here, in this particular context, the morning prayer and "catching hold of the cattle" imply "the winning of power over cattle in this and the next world", e.g.
...sa enan iha pratar anuvakenåvaruddhe tam ihậvaruddha amuşmimlloke nåśnanti nainena pratibhunjate ... /
“He seizes this in this world through the morning litany, they, seized in this world, do not eat him in yonder world, do not partake of him ..." (Schmidt-1 pp.643-644).
A similar instance is found in the Satapatha-Brahmaņa (= SB 11.6.1 = JB 1.42-44). It is related to a legend of Bhrgu and his father Varuņa ! Bhrgu thinking himself superior to his father in knowledge, has been sent to the next world to teach him a lesson. Bhrgu came across in the next world some curious events. Finding no proper solution, he came to his father, who explained him the events as follows:
The first event: a man cutting a man in pieces, indicates that the tree now in the form of a man is cutting that person into pieces in the next world, who had earlier cut that tree in this world. To avoid such an ill-fate in the next world, one should put firewood on fire in the daily agnihotra.
The second event of a man eating a man crying aloud, means: the one who is eating a man was earlier an animal which was slaughtered and eaten by the same man, who now the animal in the form of a man is eating. The charms for expelling ill-luck in the next world lie in the offering of milk in the agnihotra, since milk stands for cows and cattle in general.
The third event: a man eating a silent man is explained as follows: A plant now in the form of a man is eating a man who had earlier eaten this plant in this world. But the charms against such ill-luck is the illumination of the agnihotra milk with a straw in order to see in the darkness of the dusky-down or late evening, and to be able to prevent the milk from boiling over ... (Schmidt-1 pp.644-645; Della Casa, p.190). Schmithausen has analysed this and similar other legends and showed them as border-line cases of metempsychosis and metamorphosis (Schmithausen-1, pp.96-100 with fns. 531 fol.).