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Rishibhashit: A Study
important and a nun with a seniority of one hundred years has to bow before a freshly inducted monk. Thus it has propagated seniority of man over woman. This system of male superiority was also accepted by Buddha in his organisation. As such the word Dharma here should be understood to mean religion or religious organisation and not the mundane duties, on the style of Acharanga.
In the initial couplets of this chapter the condemnation of woman also indicates that supremacy of male over female, in context of religious organisation, was an established fact. Condemning woman, it has been stated that those villages and towns which are ruled by women should be depricated. Similarly those individuals who are governed by women should be lampooned. Woman is like a golden cave inhabited by lion, a poisonous garland, and a river full of whirlpools. She is like a wine that intoxicates. The Villages and towns, where women dominate and are free like untethered horse, are despicable like dancing in a condo
lence meeting.
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This confirms that Gardabhil Rishi was a propagater of male prominence and dominence. However, there is an isolated couplet in this chapter which praises woman. It conveys that woman is like a panegyric of a good family, sweet water, a fully blossomed lotus flower, a malati creeper with a snake, But even here she has been condemned in the end with the statement: 'malati creeper with snake'.
Towards the end of this chapter detailing the causes of bondage, the path of meditation has been recommended. He states at the end that as body thrives due to mind, as a tree thrives due to roots, all the mendicants thrive on meditation. The decorations endowed on Gardabhil in Uttaradhyayan confirm his being connected with meditational tradition. He has been called as Tapodhan (proficient in ascetic practices), an adherent to religious practices comprising of studies and meditation.
On a comperative study we find that Gardabhill has not been mentioned anywhere in Buddhist tradition. But in Vedic tradition we find a mention of an acharya named Gardabhi or Vibhit, contemporary of Janak, in Brihadaranyak Upanishad.183 However in absence of any conclusive proof it is difficult to confirm if Gardabhi-Vibhit of Brihadaranyak Upanishad and Dagbhal-Gaddabhal of Rishibhashit are same.
In the Anushasanparva of Mahabharat184 there is a mention of a Brahmavadi (believer in Brahma) son of Vishwamitra, named Gaardabhi. Here he has been mentioned as a Brahmavadi and great Rishi. This
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