Indian Antiquary Vol 40

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 15

9
JANUARY, 1911.] FOREIGN ELEMENTS IN THE HINDU POPULATION.
Various other hymns were composed by Kshatriyas, and this subject is no better treated than in Dr. Muir's Sanskrit Texts, Vol. I, to which the reader is referred. But it will be said that although it may be established that some hymns were composed by Kshatriyas, it does not touch the question of the admixture of blood, unless these Kshatriyas are shown to have risen to the rank of the Brahmanas. It is not, however, difficult to prove this. With regard to Viśvâmitra's change of caste, the following verse from the Anusasana-parvan of the Mahabharata is worth quoting:
ततो ब्राह्मणतां जातो विश्वामित्रो महातपाः । क्षत्रियः सोम्बय तथा ब्रह्मवंशस्य कारकः ॥ Translation.
"Then Visvamitra of great religious austerities attained to the state of a Brahmana. Although a Kshatriya, he became the founder of a Brahmana family."
Here then is a verse which distinctly says that Visvamitra was originally a Kshatriya, but afterwards became not only a Brahmana, but the founder of a Brahmana family. This family is the well-known Kausika gotra. Brahmanas of this gotra are as much Brahmanas as Brahmaņas of any other gotra. We thus have a clear instance before us of the fusion of Brahmana and Kshatriya blood. From Ajamiḍha also, referred to above, sprang Kanva; Kanva's son was Medhâtithi, from whom the Kânvâyana Brahmanas descended. And yet Ajamiḍha was a Kshatriya ! Many other instances of this nature have been called together by Dr. Muir in his valuable book, and I, therefore, refrain from adducing them here. Similarly, instances are not wanting of men of the Vaisya caste having become Brahmanas. To cite one of these, the following verse from the Harivansa may be given :
arraforget ment mit 148
Translation.
"The two sons of Nâbhagarishtha, who were Vaisyas, attained to the state of Brahmanas."
Not only men of the Kshatriya and Vaisya, but also men of the lowest castes are recorded to have become Brahmanas. Amongst the Brahmanas of the present day, Vasishtha gotra is looked upon as pure as any other. The originator of this gotra is believed to have been the sage Vasishtha, with whose name the seventh mandala of the Rigveda is associated. But what was the origin of this Vasishtha himself? The following verse from the Mahabharata throws light on this point :गणिकासह महामुनिः ।
तपसा ब्राह्मणो जातः संस्कारस्तत्र कारणम् ||
Translation.
"The great sage Vasishtha was born of the womb of a harlot, but became a Brahmana by religious austerities. Training of the mind is the cause of it."
This account agrees with, and is probably a later development of the tradition contained in the eleventh verse of the thirty-third hymn of Vasishtha's own mandala, i.e., the seventh mandala of the Rigveda. This verse speaks of Vasishtha as having sprung from Urvasi, an Apsaras, i.e., a courtezan of the gods. Such was the vile extraction of Vasishtha, and yet he was the founder of a Brahmanic gotra, second to none in purity. A low origin is likewise attributed not only to the sage Parabara, but also to Vyasa, the reputed compiler of the Mahabharata. A verse from the Vanaparvan of this epic says:
जातो ब्यासस्तु कैवयः श्वपाक्यास्तु पराशरः । बहवोऽम्पेपि विप्रत्वं प्राप्ता ये पूर्वमद्विजाः ॥
Translation.
"Vyasa was born of a fisherwoman, and Parâéara of a chandála woman. Many others, who were originally not twice-born, became Brahmaņas.