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Sramanism As a Weltanschauung
yayanam dänam iti prathamaḥ| tapa eva dvitīyaḥ | brahmacaryācāryakulavāsas trtī yo'tyantam ātmanam acaryakule vasādayan / sarva ete punya. loká bhavanti brahmasamstho'mrtatvam eti/'8 On this construction Sankara holds that here we have an enumeration of the threefold Aśrama dharmas followed by a reference to the Parivrä jaka with wisdom who attains to emancipation from Samsāra in contrast to the other three who attain to meritorious worlds' ( Punya-lokas). Sacrifice, study and liberality are thus referred to the house-holder, tapas as austerities to the Vanaprastha, and life-long study, dwelling with the preceptor, to the Brahmacárin. On Sankara's interpretation we have here a reference to all the three ásranias as well as to the fourth state beyond them. The distinction between the attainment of heaven through action and of emancipation through knowledge and renunciation is thus held to be implied in this passage.
If this interpretation is correct we must believe that the impact and absorption of Śramaņism was already complete in the later Vedic age. However, since the nomenclature of the āśramas and the position of the fourth äśrama was not settled even in the early Dharmasütras, such an assumption appears doubtful. It is true that the first three åśramas must have, in fact, evolved by the later Vedic age. The first two äśramas are implied in the whole of Vedic religion while the third åśrama was obviously a resultant of the practice of pondering and meditating over the significance and symbolism of sacrificial ritual. The acceptance of a fourth state, however, was a revolution which changed the significance of the other three also. As far as one can see, the context being examined refers only to Upasana and its results. Sankara himself in his brief preamble to the Chandogya distinguishes Upåsaná from Jñana. While both are mental states ( manovrttimātram), Upasana means concentration of the mind over some object as distinct 8. This is how Hume translates the passage : "There are three branches of duty.
Sacrifice, study of the Vedas, alms-giving - that is the firsi. Austerity, indeed, is the second. A student of sacred knowledge (brahmacärin) dwelling in the house of a teacher, setting himself permanently in the house of a teacher, is the third.
All these become possessors of meritorious worlds. He who stands firm in Brabma attains immortality". (The Thirteen Principal Upanişads, pp. 200-201).
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