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NEW IDEOLOGIES NEW TRADITIONS
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themselves in the shraman stream Similarly numerous Ksatriyas joined the Vedic throng Religious conversion during those days was a matter of personal conviction It had no social repercussions If conversions were to be equated with caste-conversion it would have far-reaching consequences In fact, the members of the same Indian national caste practised different faiths and hence conversion had no more than an intellectual import Caste structure was impervious to it
Vijayaghosh was engrossed with ideological disparities He emphatically said, "Monk, I Don't hope to get any alms in this arena of rites Better proceed elsewhere The victuals here are meant exclusively for Brahmins who have mastered Vedas and theology!
Said the monk, 'Vijayaghosh! I am less anxious about alms than about your ignorance of the meaning of the term Brahmin' Vijayaghosh, '
What is mysterious about it? The one born in a genealogical-tree that hailed from the head of Brahma is Brahmin'
"Jayaghosh, I declaim your thesis as patently wrong Caste owes itself to deeds and not to birth 2
‘Man is Brahmin by virtue of his deeds So are Ksatriya, Vaisya and Sudra'
Vijayaghosh, 'What are the deeds befitting a Brahmin?'
Jayaghosh, 'A Brahmin should practice continence that leads to Brahma 2 One who conducts oneself along the path leading to Brahma is Brahmin Like a lotus in water, if one stays intact of the libido to which one owes one's birth, one is verily a Brahmin 3 One who is free of attachment, repulsion and fear and glitters thereby like purified gold is Brahmin - One who is non-violent, truthful and humble is Brahmin 's 1 Uttarajjhayani', 25/31 2 Ibid, 25/30 3 Ibid, 25/26 4 Ibid 25/21 5 lbid 25/22, 23, 27
