Studies in Jain Literature

Author(s): V M Kulkarni
Publisher: Shardaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre

Page 97

UTTARADHYAYANASUTRA ON BRAHMANISM
Lecture XII (Harikeśa) paints Brāhmaṇa priests in dark colours: They are described as ignoble men (anarya), arrogant through pride of birth, slaughterers or killers of animals, men who did not subdue their senses, the unchaste / incelibate fools...those who are full of anger and pride, who kill, lie, steal, and own property, are Brāhmaṇas without pure birth and knowledge; they are very bad fields, (on which gifts sown do not grow up as merit): they are only the bearer of words, they do not understand their meaning although they have learnt the Vedas.
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In the Lecture about the true sacrifice (XXV. 18-19) too the Brāhmaṇas are criticised in these words: The ignorant priests pretend to know the sacrifice; their (so-called) Brahmanical excellence consists in (false) lore; they, resembling fire covered by ashes, shroud themselves in study and penance. He who is called by people a Brāhmaṇa and is worshipped like fire is no true Brāhmaṇa. Verses 19-29 from this Lecture portray an ideal (Jain) ascetic and call him alone a true Brāhmaṇa; and verses 31-34 from this very Lecture explain the true nature of a śramana, a Brāhmaṇa, a muni and a tapasa and the four varnas as follows:
"One does not become a śramana by the tonsure, nor a Brāhmaṇa by the sacred syllable, Om, nor a muni by living in the woods, nor a tapasa by wearing (clothes of) kusa grass and bark.
One becomes a śramana by equanimity, a Brāhmaṇa by celibacy, a muni by knowledge, and a tapasa by penance.
By one's actions one becomes a Brahmana, by one's actions one becomes a kṣatriya, by one's actions one becomes a vaiśya or by one's actions one becomes a śūdra."3
Harikeśa, the son of a śvapaka (=cāṇḍāla), who has adopted asceticism, criticises the Brāhmaṇas for tending the fire, seeking external purity by water, using kusa-grass, sacrificial poles, straw and wood, touching water in the evening and morning (on the occasion of saying prayers) thereby injuring living beings and committing sins. He indirectly criticises also bathing in a holy bathing-place (like Prayaga, a celebrated place of pilgrimage at the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna) with a view to washing away sins when he declares :
"The dharma is my pond, celibacy my holy bathing-place... there I bathe...and get rid of my impurities of sins4" (also hatred). (XII.46)
He lays stress on the great value of penance and makes light of birth in a high or exalted family. In fact, Harikeśa as well as Citra-Sambhūta legends illustrate how a śvapaka, detested by all people for being born in the lowest caste, by taking to asceticism reaches the highest place of perfection. These