Rushibhashit Sutra

Author(s): Vinaysagar, Sagarmal Jain, Kalanath Shastri, Dineshchandra Sharma
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 202

and Ahimsa and attitude are the oxen. This is spiritual cultivation. For a dispassionate monk only this cultivation is proper, and it begets happiness in the next life. Being compassionate towards all beings, if one indulges in this cultivation; be he Brahman, Kshatriya Vaishya or Shudra; he attains omniscience251. This is the description of spiritual cultivation, which on one side explains the spiritual cultivation and on the other hand clarifies that practicing such cultivation leads to liberation irrespective of caste and creed. The most important information that this chapter provides is that a Brahman Parivrajak propagates the concept of liberation for all the four castes.
In Rishibhashit itself this type of spiritual cultivation has been described with a little variation in the 26th chapter of Maatang. This chapter of Ping has only four verses on this topic whereas in the Maatang chapter eight verses describe the same topic. Thus this chapter contains just a brief version of the spiritual cultivation detailed in the 26th chapter titled Maatang.
In Jain tradition I have not come across this type of spiritual cultivation, but in Buddhist tradition Suttanipat and Sanyutta Nikaya describe this spiritual cultivation. In the fourth chapter, Kasi Bhardwaj, of Suttanipat we find its details. There, Buddha himself is presented as a farmer. He says, 'Faith is seed, penance is rain, knowledge is yoke, humility is the stud of yoke, memory is my plough. I am disciplined about food and speech. I un-weed the truth. The endeavour towards nirvana are the oxen drawing my plough. They perpetually move in the direction leading to the place where there is no pathos. Such cultivation gives nectar as fruit. Doing such cultivation man becomes free of all sorrows.'
Sanyutta Nikaya also provides almost same description. The description about spiritual cultivation conveys that in society at some point their was an aversion towards Shramans seeking alms. These Shramans were told that instead of begging alms they should indulge in cultivation. In reply to such suggestion the Shramans presented the details of spiritual cultivation.
Besides Rishibhashit, details about Ping are found in Buddhist252 tradition as well. In Anguttar Nikaya of Buddhist
Rishibhashit: A Study 201