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Vol. XXV, 2002 JAINISM : A PROMINENT LIVING INDIGENOUS CULTURE 123
Aryans were a nomadic race and as such were not trained in the sophisticated philosophical thinking of the fully settled and prosperous people of Indus valley culture whom they invaded and conquered. As Pt. Sukhalal Sanghavi points out, the attitude towards life of the people who are settled and prosperous, and of those who are leading a nomadic existence would be basically different. The attitude of the former would be more introvert, while that of the latter be more extrovert. This really happened in case of Aryans who came to India. They were in search of a happy and peaceful life wherein they could enjoy the materialistic objects to the full.
In view of scholars, Rgveda reflects this attitude when its Rsis pray to different God of Nature for fulfilment of their earthly desires and the destruction of their enemies. However, after the Aryans began to settle in the fertile lands of Indo-Gangatic plains they also began to think deeply, and gradually imbibed the philosophical ideas of the indigenous culture. This fact has been elaborated in the following words of Pt. Sukhalal Sanghavis. The śramana line of thinking, which had influenced the original residents of India, was of serious and introvert nature. : Sir Sanmukha Chetly opined that recent historical researches and archaeological discoveries have led scholars to believe that in the pre-Aryan period there flourished a very great civilization in India, which, for the sake of convenience I shall call 'Dravidian civilization'. He further said that the Aryans came with their own ideas based upon ritualism and animal sacrifice, and the prominence given to the revival in the time of Lord Mahāvīra is only an indication of that feeling of revolt which came amongst the vast masses of Jainas in this country against this new cult and the practices which were the antithesis of the principles that the Jainas (śramaņas) believed in.
That kind of idea can be traced from the ancient texts of India like Rgveda. In 'Kesi-sūkta' of Rgveda (10.36) we find a strange pen picture of Munis having locks of hair on head, dirty and ochre-robbed, flying in air, drinking poison, delicious by 'Mauneya' and 'Devesita'. This sūkta thus indicates the distinct class of Munis who were practising yoga either alone or in groups living in the places away from populations. On account of severe penances undertaken by them they were called Sramanas. They had no attachment to their bodies and took utmost care to see that no life was destroyed. The lives of these Munis were in accordance with the teachings of Rsabhadeva, the first Tirthańkara of Jainas. The roots of Samkhya philosophy of Kapil Muni is in this non-Aryan tradition.?
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