Idea of Ahimsa and Asceticism in Ancient Indian Tradition

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

Page 32

AHMSA, ASCETICISM ....
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2 and then again in ĀDS 2.9.21. 18-21 and 2.9.22. 1-5 in the main text. The latter are meant for the munis (silent ascetics) who are both, ascetics and householders12. In the former layer, the vanaprasthas are referred to as living in huts in the forest and engaged in rituals. They live an ascetic mode of life. Skurzak finds the earliest phase of the muni - asceticism to have been superseded by the conception of the life of a hermit - vanaprastha. According to him, ascetics like pariv raja kas, samnya sins and sramanas were wandering all over the country. They were active priests in the region of Magadha before the time of Buddhism and Jainism, and they believed in fortune-telling, sorcery, etc. They were influenced by the Bon religion of the Himalayan regions. These are the ascetics - samnya sins of the dharmasatras, but they are different from the muni vanaprastha type of the Vedic texts13.
According to Patrick Olivelle (Olivelle-1 pp. 27-35), the Gautama-Dharma-Satra and the Baudhayana-Dharma-Satra believed only in the householder's mode of life, and the householders are given a preference for renouncing the world. The BDS (2.6.11.9-34) is an authentic text, but the rest of the text (BDS 3.3.1-22) is a summary of the Vaikha nasa-Satra, and is not authentic (cf. Wezler-1 p.112). Sprockhoff distinguishes samnyasins, parivrajakas, bhikṣus, all the wandering ascetics from the vanaprasthas (i.e. hermits) as follows :
The ascetics receive something as gifts (e.g. food by begging), but do not give something in return. They visit casually villages for begging of alms, they do not offer anything, do not perform sacrifice and keep no fire, they live alone in the forest and possess no house. Vedic students and/or the householders are allowed to live such an ascetic mode of life.
On the contrary, the hermits - vanaprasthas - give something as gifts to others, but they do not receive anything as gifts. They do not live in village or even in the outskirts. They keep fire and Abber in the sacrifice (cf. Wezler-1 p.105, fn. 296, p.116). live alone or together with their wife in a hut, etc. None of the Vedic students and/ or the householders has any option to enter 12. Ct. Ait. B. 4.33.1: the muni-grhastha Aitasa and MBH: $alya
parvan 49: Durvåsas vising a muni-grhastha called Mudgala, also MBH: vana-parvan 246, for details about it, see Wezler-1 pp.
86,90,91,115-116. 13. For criticism of such views, see Sprockhoff-1 pp.396,413 foll; cf.
also Wezler-1 pp.104 fol and Wezler-2 pp.402,405.