Studies in Haribhadrasuri

Author(s): N M Kansara, G C Tripathi
Publisher: B L Institute of Indology

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Studies in Haribhadrasuri
of social barriers in ancient India, such as (i) the treatment as a slave in the Vedic Age, 16 (ii) defeat in the battle as recorded by Patañjali in the Mahābhāsya, 17 (iii) extradition from society, like the Vrātyas, and (iv) living outside the city, 18 etc. It is recorded as a novelty that an An-ārya cannot attain salvation.
Haribhadra, as a reformer, removed the barriers between Ārya and An-ārya. In his opinion, if a woman is born in an Anārya family cannot attain salvation, a bad woman born in a Ārya family should also not be qualified for salvation. Salvation is an attainment based on the qualification of an individual and it should not be based on caste criterion. " Argument 6: Age and Salvation (in continuation of the Argument 5) It was argued that since woman and An-ārya have lesser (saskyāta) longevity (āyus), both are unqualified to attain salvation. Haribhadrasūri refutes this on the same footing as in the preceding argument that life is an attainment of an individual and does not depend upon the Arya or An-ārya class. Moreover, the Ārya-An-ārya criterion must not be applied to woman in respect of salvation. It is generally seen that a woman belonging to a Ārva family may live for limited lifespan, where as a woman belonging to an An-ārya family may have a longer life. Moreover, it should not have any nexus with salvation. As a matter of fact, good health has been recognized by all as instrumental for the attainment of Dharma.19
Cruelty has been put forth as another disqualification for salvation and applied to woman not only in Jaina canonical literature,20 but also in Vedic literature, 21 legal literature like the work of Cāņakya 22 the Epics like the Mahābhārata,23 the Purānas, 24 and the classical authors writing on renunciation.25 Since cruelty results in aggressive thoughts (raudra-dhyāna) which lead to hell, it is a bar to the attainment of salvation. In answer to this Haribhadra argues that since woman can go only to the 'sixth hell it shows that the degree of her cruelty is not so