Idea of Ahimsa and Asceticism in Ancient Indian Tradition

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

Page 34

AHMSA, ASCETICISM ....
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also among the peoples of Scandinavia and the northern Germany (Sprockhoff-1 pp.385 fol., 398 fol.).
(iv) Irrespective of the forms stated above, there was also another form of the vanaprasthas who left the house and lived in the forest, it may be called an "emigration" of the aged ones from their house. This form is represented by the name samnyasa - renunciation. In some cases, it was the duty of the grown up son to prepare a hut - kuti - outside of the village area for his aged father to live in. Probably here lies the germs of the later kuți-caka (possessing or living in huts) type of hermits. It is not certain whether the term kuti-caka stands for the non-Aryan wanderers (Sprockhoff-1 p.409; see Olivelle-2 p.76).
Sprockhoff at the end remarks that the aśrama system in the ancient Indian literature should not be misunderstood for "Altersstufen" (life-stages) or "Altersklassen" (old age group). The deciding creterion for the classification of a person is not his age but his status in society (Sprockhoff-1 p.431). The vanaprastha way of life was unknown also to the old upanișadic sections (Sprockhoff-2 p.67).
The samprada na rituals were prohibited for the sudras. In fact, the so-called third stage of the vanprastha is quite unfamiliar in the Vedic literature. It is developed at a later stage, but in the medieval period it became soon obsolete. It is considered as a kali-varjya ! it has been stated above (2.c) that the early sources for the later vanaprastha and the parivraja ka modes of life in India can be traced in the abhijit and the viśvajit sacrifices (cf. also Wezler-1 p.104, fn.304). The preliminary stages of the later vanaprastha type are found also in the BDS (3.1-2). It describes two types of householders, Salina (living in huts) and ya yavara (wanderers). According to H.P.Schmidt (p. 645, fn.2), the Salinas attend only to their own ritual duties, and the yayavaras move about frequently from place to place in order to perform sacrifices for others. Baudhayana-Dharma-Satra (2.7.12) gives here some rules for those householders who follow an ascetic way of life. They sacrifice in the self by offering to the vital airs. This can be compared with renouncers' mode of life (above 2 f.). Among the other obligatory rules for such householders, the ahimsa is also one of them. It is considered essential for the internal purification of the soul. They observe a palani-vrtti (subsistence by the act of protecting)
which is otherwise referred to as the ahimsika (non-injurious),. www.jainelibrary.org