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TULSI-PRAJNA
royal court of king Shüdraka. After long quotations came the following comments from Ambedkar :
"Bana is a Vatsyayapa Brahmin. this Vatsayayana Brahmin after giving a description of the Chandala settlement, finds no compunction in using such eloquent and gorgeous lenguage to describe the Chandala girl. Is this description compatible with the sentiments of utter scorn and contempt associated with untouchability? If the Chandales were untouchables how could an untouchable girl enter the king's palace ? How could an untouchable be described in the term used by Bana ? Far from being degraded, the Chandalas of Bana' pariod had Ruling Families among them. For Bana speaks of the chandala girl as a Chandala princess. Bana wrote sometime about 600 A. D, and by 600 A. D. the Chandalas had not come to be regarded as untouchables's
The entire remark is full of blunders. That even a learned and careful man like Ambedkar could commit so many blunders in a few lines is really astounding, the blunders, in brief, are following: - 1. Describing the beauty of women is so common in Sanskrit literature. There are no rules in the Sanskrit poetics to limit such descriptions to higher castes only. So there is no justification for
taking the description of the Chandala girl's beauty as some thing
inconceivable. 2. Ambedkar admits the story of Kadambari is "a very complex one".
what he fails to mention is that the story includes the tale of curses and resulting birth and rebirth of men and women. He ignores the fact that according to Baņa, the Chandala girl was none but the goddess Lakşmi born in a Chandala family due to a curse and that is what makes him unable to understand the reason for
using-Superbterms” for the Chandala girl by Baņa. 3. Undoubtedly the untouchables could enter the Hall of Audience
when necessary. In that case, purificatory measures must have been taken which Bana did not deem it necessary to mention. Ambedkar is obviously aware of the measures that were taken to purify a place polluted by the entry of the chandalas etc. They are mentioned in the Dharmashastras. As for the necessity and permissibility of the Chandala girl's entry into the Hall, the girl had a wonderful perrot well-versed in different branches of learning and had come to present the same to the king. So the king permitted her entry to the Hall. That is evident from the passage
quoted at the middle of page 1.0 by Dr. Ambedkar. . 4. Before quoting the long passages discribing the personal appear.
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