Study in the Origins and Development of Jainism

Author(s): S N Shrivastava
Publisher: Rekha Publication Gorakhpur

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Socio-Cultural Milieu
(1) arhatas, (2) yaudhãs as according to Pañchavim sa Brāhmaṇa. The term yaudhaḥ clearly denotes the class of warriors. Bhandarkar and many others following him have equated arhatãs with Brāhmaṇas, but this conjecture is not maintainable. The term arhata is typically a Śramana term and has a specific connotation. Arhata is an honourable term and is applied to such persons who have either attained salvation or reached the stage of salvation in the Jain and Buddhist traditions. The equation of arhatas and yaudhãs of the vratya community with the Brāhmaṇas and Kshatriyas of the orthodox society is misleading.
It is significant to note that the classification of the vratya community into yaudhas and arhatas has a great bearing on the cultural history of India. Coming from the same stock, the arhatas, like the Brahmaņas, were men who were spiritual seekers while the yaudhãs, like the Kshatriyas, were engaged in managing the mundane affairs. Both these groups constituted the vratya rajanya class. There is no trace of the division of the vratya community into Brāhmaṇa, Vaisya and Śūdra categories in the early literature. The classification of the vratyas in these categories is a later development when people coming from different stocks were included in these categories opposed to Vedic orthodoxy. Infact, the arhatas as a category of the vratyas belonging to Śramaṇa tradition had a definite religious ideology and were wandering ascetics. Their weltanschauung was opposed to the Vedic outlooks. Since the arhatas were related with Śramana tradition and belonged to the rajanya class, it is quite reasonable to conclude that Jainism developed from the institution of these arhatas.
This inference gets support from another reference of the Panchaviṁsa Brahmaṇa in which it is stated that the vratyas were divided into four classes, namely, hīna, gargira, samanichmedhra and nindita. In the opinion of R. N. Dandekar the categories of gargira and samanichamedhra indicate close relatioship between Rudra and the