Sramana Tradation

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

Page 71

Sramaņa Tradition
However, it must be added that despite the theoretical opposition to the theory of the Cäturvarnya, the Buddhists could not in practice disregard caste altogether. For example, it is interesting to note that the famous Chinese pilgrim Yuan Chwang generally mentions the castes from which the famous monks of his time were derived. We have also to remember Udayana's remarks that there is no sect which disregards the Vedic samskäras in practice even though they might decry them as 'conventional’-nästyeva taddarśanam yatra samvrtametadityuktvapi garbhādhānādyantyestiparyantām vaidikim kriyām nānutişthati janaḥ| ( Atmatattvaviveka). There is no school where people do not perform the Vedic rites from conception to the funerary rites even though they might sometime describe them as conventional'. Apparently the Buddhist laity did not wholly cut themselves away from the mores of the society in which they lived. The fact seems to be that the Buddhist protest was satisfied when the Buddhist monks obtained a venerable position in society without reference to their caste origin. They did not carry out any sustained vendetta against the caste system itself. That system proved so flexible indeed that it allowed all those who disputed it to be themselves regarded as a distinct community within the broader framework of caste.
Views similar to the Buddhist, indeed, found mention even in the Mahabharata. In the famous dialogue in the Ajagaraparvan in the Vanaparvan, Yudhisthira is asked “ brāhmaṇaḥ ko bhavedrājan” 'who, O King, is a Brāhmaṇ ?' and his answer is “Satyam dānam kşamā silamānrsamsyam tapo ghrnā / dyśyante yatra nāgendra sa brāhmana iti smytaḥ |/" "A Brāhmaṇa is one who evinces truth, liberality, forbearance, virtue, mildness, austerity and pity'. At this the questioning python promptly points out that such qualities may be found in the Sūdras also. Yudhisthira, however, sticks to his definition and declares that anyone possessing these qualities should be called a Brahmana and any one bereft of these should be called a Sudra“ yatraitallaks yate sarpa vịttam sa brāhmanaḥ smộtah/ yatraitanna bhavet sarpa tam Śūdra. miti nirdiset // ” The python, then logically asks - If the Brāhmaṇa is to be defined in terms of conduct, then birth would cease to be a criterion of caste. “ Yadi te vyttato rājan brāhmanaḥ prasamikṣitaḥ / vrthā jätistada yuşman kştiryāyanna vidyate || Yudhișthira answers that on