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TULSI-PRAJNA highly praised in the Hindu Scriptures, in some cases they include the despised ones too. But worship of mound and tomb of the ancestors, of spirits, of the goddesses Mārt and Bhuiyan, of trees, of Rābu, Munakhadeva, Chhatavādi, Jhakbia and Mekhăsura etc. has nothing to do with Buddhism. Asuras and Yakşas were worshipped in India even before Buddha. Buddhism was not intolerant of it, but emphatically preached the uselessness of such cult, How could the persons devoted to the teachings of Buddha and unwilling to forsake them even in the days of the triumph of Brāhmanism continue such practices ever ?
Most of the occupations of the untouchables are inconsistent with the letter and spirit of Buddhism. Hunting, fishing, sale of meat and fish and liquors, catching soakes and monkeys and using them for entertainment ctc. are the occupations a follower of Buddhism could not retain. So is the occupation of executioner. Even if we accept the plea that a section of the Buddhists had no alternative and had to continue them for the sake survival, it is difficult to believe that they were orthodox Buddhists but had to take liquors too. That shows the untouchables are a section of society least influenced by Buddhism.
Rules regarding marriage current among the untouchables too prove the same. Națas, for example, marry women belonging to the castes of Kabāra, Murão, Khāgi, Dhuniya, Gaderia, Kumbbāra etc, by purchase or abduction but do not take women belonging to the castes of Chamāra, Kanjara, Bhangi etc. There are several untouchable castes like Karawāla that do not accept women of other castes at all. Rules current among several untouchable castes remind us of the Brāhmaṇical measures against inter-caste marriages. For example, a child whose one of the parents belongs to a different caste is known as Lendrā among the Aheriyas and cannot enjoy full rights of the caste. Dusādhs grant full rights to the child if the mother belongs to a higher caste but deny the same if the mother belongs to a caste lower than Dusādhs, what relationship such discrimination can possibly have with Buddhism ?
That holds good about food too. Dusādbs accept coocked food from Brāhmaṇas, Ksatriyas and Vaishyas but do not take food touched by a doma. Karawāls accepted even the refuse of other castes but avoid food touched by chamāra, Dhobi, Bhangi. Doma, Kort and Dhanuka. Aherias accept even the kachchi rasol (food not fried in ghee) of Abira, Carpenter, Gata and Kabāra but object to that of others. How monstrous the untouchability practised by the untouchables has been is evident from the following incident described by Kșitimohan Sen :
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