Idea of Ahimsa and Asceticism in Ancient Indian Tradition

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

Page 41

THE IDEA OF AHMSA
also Gokapiliya in MBH 12.260 fol. and Schreiner. pp.301-303). The kind Vasu episode in the MBH (12.264) is a classical piece of Visnuism showing an attempt to reinterpret the Vedic sacrifices. It contains conflict between the gods and the ṛṣis (seers). It is here declared that in the golden age of kṛta-yuga, no animals were sacrificed :
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idam kṛta-yugam nama kalaḥ śresthah pravartitaḥ / ahimsyah yajña-paśavo yuge śmin na tadanyatha // (vs.73).
But the animals were sacrificed in the treta-yuga, the next silver age where the whole of the dharma is reduced by half. Again, in reply, the rṣis protected against animal sacrifice to the god : Indra. They declared that himsa is no dharma at all. In both cases, the rṣis opposed and favoured an offer of aja cereal corn (i.e. a-ja = not born, ungerminating corn) - and meant aja not as goat. Such an interpretation was then accepted by the opposition party, the gods.
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The description with the work aja as corn in the Brahmanical sacrifices recurs with some changes in some Jaina texts: viz. Gunabhadra's Uttarapurana, Jinasena's Harivamsapurana (17.38164), and Hemacandra's Triṣastiśalakapuruşacarita (7.2.362514). The view of the rṣis of the MBH episode, that the corn of three years old should be used for the sacrifices, has been explained in Jainism that the three-year-old corn is "dead", it is not capable of germination (cf. Uttarapurana 17.69, sources from Alsdorf p.40).
P. Schreiner has on the basis of his study observed that the Santiparvan (Chs. 248-267) in the MBH is a collection of literature. Though a few handful of orthodox brahmins still believed in Vedic ritualism and tried to escape themselves from the evil consequences of the animal killing in sacrifices by means of magical formulas or by adopting some reinterpretations in the Vedic rituals, but their belief found no support among majority of the followers of Brahmanical or Hindu faith. materials consisting of the central theme of ahimsa. These materials have also been rendered spurious in course of time, and their earliest core lies in the discussion between Kapila and Syumarasmi in the Gokapiliya (MBH 12. Chs. 260-262; see also Alsdorf-1 p.34). The style and manner of the discussion and conflict interwoven around the episode presents a picture of the so-called Hinduism appearing to be emerging at the same time out of the Vedic religion. Such instances reflect many For Private & Personal Use Only