Sramana Tradation

Author(s): G C Pandey
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 22

Śramanism As a Weltanschauung
a one am I, Sir, knowing the sacred sayings but not knowing the soul. It has been heard by me from those who are like you, Sir, that he who knows the soul crosses over sorrow. Such a sorrowing one am I, Sir. Do you, Sir, cause me, who am such a one, to cross over to the other side of sorrow." Mrs. Rhys Davids had distinguished the search for More from the search for a mere deliverance from evil 11 While this is a correct formulation for the Upaniṣads as a whole and for Vedic thought in general, we do find at places in the Upanisads a sense of Weltschmerz reminiscent of the Śramanic outlook. In fact the section goes on to assert that what is mortal (martya), is limited and that unlike common opinion, cattle and wealth, wife and slaves, fields and houses, are all merely limited things and they are contrasted with the infinity and self-sufficiency of the spirit. Here again an old verse is quoted where there is a unique occurrence of the word duḥkhata (na pasyo mṛtyum pasyati na rogam nota duḥkhatam/). It mentions granthis and kaṣaya. Both these words are of crucial occurrence in early Buddhist and Jain literature. It is clear from this that while the basic doctrine of Atmādvaita has a different metaphysical and psychological attitude than that of Śramanism, nevertheless at this stage we have a clear contact between the two. Of course, one can argue for independent perallelism or even anticipation. Nevertheless, the total context does not appear to support such a hypothesis. The development of Atmadvaita can be traced from the earlier Vedic polytheism through the gradual unification of the gods and their identification with the inner reality in man. Śramanism in any case, remained pluralistic and generally accepted the reality of a non-spiritual principle also in opposition to the spiritual principle. This dualism of the spiritual and the non spiritual is fundamental to Śramanism and in a sense excludes the doctrine of creation which traces the origin of Nature from the Spirit.
In the 8th chapter of the Chandogya distinction is made between true and false desires and it is asserted that the knowledge of the self leads to complete fulfilment where it is implied that false desires are to be shed and only the true desires are to be fulfilled. The doctrine
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11. Mrs. Rhys Davids, Buddhism (HUL). The Upanisadic passage cited above is in Hume's translation..
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