SECTION FOUR: DHAMMA TO BE SADDHAMMA MUST PULL DOWN ALL SOCIAL BARRIERS
§ 2. Dhamma to be Saddhamma must Teach that Worth and not Birth is the Measure of Man
1. The theory of Chaturvarna, preached by the Brahmins, was based on birth.
2. One is a Brahmin because he is born of Brahmin parents. One is a Kshatriya because he is born of Kshatriya parents. One is a Vaishya because one is born of Vaishya parents. And one is a Shudra because one is born of Shudra parents.
3. The worth of a man, according to the Brahmins, was based on birth and on nothing else.
4. This theory was as repulsive to the Buddha, as was the theory of Chaturvarna.
5. His doctrine was just the opposite of the doctrine of the Brahmins. It was his doctrine that worth, and not birth, was the measure of man.
6. The occasion on which the Buddha propounded his doctrine has its own peculiar interest.
7. Once the Blessed One was staying in Anathpindika's Asram. One day in the forenoon he took his begging bowl and entered Shravasti for alms.
8. At that time a sacrificial fire was burning and an offering was prepared. Then the Blessed One, going for alms from house to house in Shravasti, approached the house of the Brahmin Aggika.
9. The Brahmin, seeing the Blessed One coming at a distance, became angry and said, "Stay there, O Shaveling! There, stay, ye wretched monk! Stay there, ye miserable outcast."
10. When he spoke thus, the Blessed One addressed him as follows: "Do you know, O Brahmin, who an outcast is, or the things that make a person an outcast?
11. "No, Gotama, I do not know who an outcast is. Nor indeed do I know what things make a man an outcast."
12. The Lord pleaded that nothing would be lost in knowing who is an outcast. "Now that you insist on my knowing it," the Brahmin Aggika said, "well, go on and explain."
13. The Brahmin having responded, the Blessed One spake as follows:
14. "The man who is irritable, rancorous, vicious, detractive, perverted in views, and deceitful--know ye that he is an outcast.
15. "Whosoever in this world harms living beings, once-born or twice-born, in whom there is no compassion for living beings--know ye that he is an outcast.
16. "Whosoever destroys and besieges villages and hamlets, and is known as an oppressor--know ye that he is an outcast.
17. "Whether in the village or in the forest, whosoever appropriates by theft what belongs to others, or what is not given--know ye that he is an outcast,
18. "Whosoever, having really taken a debt, flees, when pressed, saying, 'There is no debt to you,'--know ye that he is an outcast.
19. "Whosoever, desiring some trifle, kills a man going alone on the road, and pillages him--know ye that he is an outcast.
20. "Whosoever for his own sake, or for the sake of others, or for the sake of wealth, utters lies when asked as a witness--know ye that he is an outcast.
21. "Whosoever by force or with consent is seen transgressing with the wives of relatives or friends--know ye that he is an outcast.
22. "Whosoever, being rich, does not support aged mother and father who have passed their youth--know ye that he is an outcast.
23. "Whosoever, when questioned about what is good, counsels what is wrong. and teaches in a concealing way--know ye that be is an outcast.
24. "No one is an outcast by birth--and no one is a Brahmin by birth."
25. Aggika, on hearing this, felt greatly ashamed for the abuse he had hurled against the Blessed Lord.
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THE BUDDHA AND HIS DHAMMA
SpiritualThe Buddha and His Dhamma, a treatise on Lord Buddha's life and Buddhism, was the last work of Indian statesman and scholar B. R. Ambedkar. The book is treated as a holy text by Indian Buddhists. It was first published in 1957 after Ambedkar's death...
