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202
TULSI-PRAJNA
It was directed against a Hindu ruler who was spending his days in pleasure leaving all power in hands of his brother-in-law who was notorious for his slackness of character and tyranny. Obviously the dramatist had a message ! a king like that must go. As the dramatist was instigating and supporting revolt against a ruler of his own times, he had to hide his own identity and create the confusion that the drama was composed by some king named Sbūdraka of antiquity. According to the prologue of the drama, Shudraka was a devotee of Shiva and learned in the Vedas and Shastras, he lived a hundred years and ten days, he performed Horse Sacrifice and entered into fire after handing over his kingdom to his son. Use of 'kila' and 'babhūva' in this connection is remarkable. Nobody uses them for himself. their use is reserved for describing what is too old and not based on personal knowledge. So the identity of the author remains unknown and that is concealed deliberately.
Brāhmanas' batred for Buddhists
It is true, nevertheless, that the hatred for Buddhists was propagated through the Purānas and Dharmashāstras. According to the Vişnupurāņa, the gods defeated by the demons in war pleased Vişņu by penance. Vişņu created Māyāmoha who converted part of the demons to Jainism and part of them to Buddhism. Thus removed from the Vedic creed they were defeated easily by gods. 6 King Shatadhanu was born several times as dog, wolf, vulture, crow, stork and peacock respectively due to his sin of talking to a heretic. His queen remembered it all along, was able to recognise him in each birth and tried her ut inost to save him. As a result of her efforts he was born again a man after passing through the process of life and death for six times. So one should avoid contact and conversation with the heretics as extremely sinful ?
The twenty-first chapter of the Jñānasaṁhitā of the Shivapurāņa says Visnu propagated heresies in order to destroy the three cities of the demons. Even Nārada became converted to Jainism to mislead the demons. The demon king. Vidyupmāli too became a Jain at last. Thus the demons of the three cities renounced the Vedic creed and were destroyed by the gods. Then the preachers of Jainism took their abode in the land of desert (i.e. in Rajasthan) and propagated there heresy again in the Kali age.
The Padmapurāņa brands all the followers of non-Vedic and non-Vaisnava faiths as heretics and forbids contact with them. Vişņu advised Shiva propagation of heresies and composition of misleading Shastras and Purānas as a means of confusing the demons.9 So Shiva himself caused ten sages to preach heresies10.
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