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LECTURE THREE
ŚRAMANIC CRITIQUE OF BRAHMANISM
In my first lecture I had tried to trace the impact of the śramaņic doctrine of Karman and Rebirth on Upanişadic thought and in my second lecture I had tried to indicate the range of śramaņic ascetic and monastic practices which influenced the growth of the fourth Aśrama in the Brāhmaṇical tradition. On these points although śramaņism was originally different from Brāhmanism, the latter gradually imbibed Sramanic ideas and came to approximate it so that in classical times the doctrines of Samsāra, Karman, asceticism and monasticism became the common repertoire of Sramanism as well as Brāhmaṇism. However, there were certain points of belief on which the Sramana sects continued to be critical of Brāhmanism. The three most important of these points were the caste system, the authority of the Vedas and the belief in God. There is a well known verse of Dharmakīrti which may be recalled in this connection -
Veda-prāmānyam kasyacitkartļvādaḥ | snāne dharmecchā jātivādävalepaḥ|| santāpärambhaḥ papa-hānäya ceti/ dhvastaprajñānām pañca lingāni jād ye //
"There are five signs of the folly of those who have lost their intelligence - belief in the validity of the Vedas, belief in a creator, expecting ethical merit from ablutions, pride of caste, and engaging in violence to be rid of sin.' From this one can easily surmise how rational, even modern, Dharmakirti was. In fact, Buddha had himself said -" parīksya madvaco grāhyam bhikṣavo na tu gauravāt” - “Monks, you should accept my words only after examining them, not out of
everence.” Against the traditionism, even, dogmatism of the Vedic tradition, we can discover a spirit of protest and criticism in the Śramaņa tradition.
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