Jainism in Buddhist Literature

Author(s): Bhagchandra Jain Bhaskar
Publisher: Alok Prakashan

Page 27

used, in Buddhist literature, in a very loose sentade. I, there fore, examined the views attributed to Samapa-Brāhmana and found that the teachings of Nigaptha Nātaputta are also represented among them.
The origin of Samanta-Brahmana is unknown, but we can trace it from the works of Papini ( prior to Buddha'1 ) and Patañjali ( second century B. C.) which mention a perpetual ermity ( básvata-virodha ) between a snake and mongoose (ahinakulavat) to illustrate the compound formation of Samana - Brāhmana. The edicts of Asoka also mention them; but the term is Brahmana-Samana, and not Samana-Brahmana's.
The reason of this variation in Asokan edicts, according to Sukumara Dutta, is that "The legends were composed by those who themeselves belonged to the Samana class and wished to give it precedence, while the Brāhmaṇa is put first in the edict because the Brāhmaṇical society was perhaps demographically more extensive in Asoka's empire. The accom. plishments of this ëlite, the Samaņa-Brāhmaṇa, are descri. bed from the Buddhist point of view in the scripture"".
Another reason for the relative positions of the two component parts of the compounds Samana-Brahmana and BrahmanaSamana may be adduced by reference to the antiquity of the Samana cultural system and the subsequent growth in importance of the Brahmana cultural system. The earlier appellation Samana Brahmaņa gives precedence to Samanas most probably because Samana cultural system was the more ancient system. The change in precedence in the term Brahmana-Samana might have been due to the waxing influence of the Brāhmaṇa religious system which resulted in relegating the Samaņas to a less important position in the religious life of India. The Heretical Teachers
The leaders of Sramanism were referred to in Buddhist literature as "Heretical Teachers". These contemporary teachers were doubtless, like the Buddha himself, inspired by the wave of dissatisfaction with the system of orthodox Brahmaņism.” Six such teachers are mentioned in the Páli Canon:--