1

JOHANNES BRONKHORST

THE TWO SOURCES OF INDIAN ASCETICISM

Second edition

Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. 1998

Table of contents

Preface Preface to the second edition Introduction Part I. The ramas 1. The pastamba Dharmastra 2. Sanysa 3. The four ramas as alternatives 4. The four ramas as sequence 5. Conclusions of Part I Part II. Vedic asceticism and the sacrificial tradition 6. Vedic asceticism 7. The position of the early Upaniads 8. Conclusions of Part II Part III. The two traditions 9. Kapila and the Vedic tradition 10. ramaas and Brahmins 11. Asceticism in the Mahbhrata Part IV. General Conclusions 12. Concluding observations Bibliography Abbreviations

Preface This book promises, in its title, to deal with the two sources of Indian asceticism. This is somewhat misleading. For direct information about these sources does not appear to be available. The oldest literary remains of India, primarily the Rgveda, do not contain unambiguous information about the object of our interest, and nor does the archaeological evidence. Speculations can be based on them, but no certain, or very probable conclusions. The somewhat younger literature though perhaps already far removed from the sources concerned is far more interesting in this respect. It shows a clear awareness on the part of its authors that there were two different kinds, or currents, of asceticism. It also shows the tendency of these two currents to unite, and to become ever more indistinguishable as time goes by. It therefore allows us to conclude that they were distinct from the beginning. In other words, the two currents have, or rather had, two different sources. This much seems clear, and certain. More precise information about the sources themselves is hard to come by. As said above, the early Vedic texts and the archaeological evidence do not help us much. The present study therefore largely ignores them. There is another word in the title that requires elucidation. It is asceticism. This word is here used in a rather general sense: it covers the whole range of physical and mental exercises from extreme mortification [2] to certain forms of gentle meditation, it being understood that all these forms of asceticism constitute the whole, or at least a major part, of the life of the ascetics concerned. The preparation of this volume has taken several years, during which I have had the opportunity to discuss its contents with various

colleagues. I thank all those whose comments have enabled me to further clarify different points. Most of all I thank Prof. Gerald J. Larson, who went through the final draft, and made a number of helpful suggestions. Preface to the second edition This edition is largely identical to the first one, published by Peter Lang, Bern, in 1993. The occasion has however been grasped to correct minor errors, mainly typographical, in the main text. Only the Introduction has been rearranged to some extent. Some observations dealing with new publications or publications that have belatedly come to my attention have been added to the footnotes. These publications have themselves been added to the bibliography. New footnotes can be recognized by the use of an asterisk (*). Additions to existing footnotes are indicated as such. For ease of comparison, the page numbers of the first edition are indicated in brackets []. Introduction The origin of Indian asceticism has puzzled investigators. The reason is clear. Asceticism plays a central role in classical Hinduism and in the two other religions that arose on Indian soil, Buddhism and Jainism. Yet the earliest surviving documents of India, the Vedas, breathe a different atmosphere. No quest for liberation from this and the next life, no withdrawal from the world, but rather a wish to obtain all the goods this life has to offer: life until an advanced age, sons, cows, riches, etc. In spite of this, early researchers believed that the Vedic tradition inspired the non-Vedic manifestations of the ascetic spirit. Jacobi (1884: xxii f.), for example, concluded from the similarities that exist between the main vows and obligations of the Jaina and Buddhist monks on the

one hand, and certain rules for ascetics in the law-books of Gautama and Baudhyana on the other, that neither the Buddhists nor the Jainas have in this regard any claim to originality, but that both have only adopted the five vows of the Brahmanic ascetics (p. xxiii). Similar remarks had been made before him by Bhler (e.g., 1879: 193 n. 13) and Mller (1879: 318), and were to be made by Kern (1896: 73) afterwards. Ideas current at the time about the antiquity of the Vedic age no doubt facilitated this conclusion.1 The question of how asceticism fitted into Vedic religion remained, however, unanswered. It is primarily J.W. Hauers (1922) merit to have [4] initiated a search for antecedents of later Yoga in the Vedic texts, and thus to have tried to bridge the chasm that appeared to exist between Vedic religion and the later ascetic movements. Meanwhile T.W. Rhys Davids (1899: 215 f.), P. Deussen (1906: 17f.; German original 1899) and especially R. Garbe (1903) had proposed a different origin for the religious current that manifests itself in the Upaniads and in Buddhism and Jainism.2 This current, Garbe maintained, is no continuation of or development out of Vedic religion, but rather a reaction against it.3 This reaction originated with the Katriyas, members of the warrior caste, who thus expressed their discontent with the ritualism of the Brahmins.4
1. Cf. Olivelle, 1974a: 11; Bronkhorst, 1989. 2. See already Mller, 1879: 306. 3. So also Lvi, 1898: 11. 4. A reflexion of this point of view is still to be found in Wiltshire, 1990: xvi: The Buddhist and Jain traditions had their origin in the ramaa Movement which began as a protest by Katriyas against the Brahmanic stranglehold on religion and society. (cp. also p. 227 f.) See also Frauwallner, 1953: 47-48; Jaini, 1970: 43. Schneider (1989: 56 f.) distinguishes between Katriya-religion and Brahmin-religion, but assigns the tman-doctrine squarely to the latter. Bakker (1989: 48-49 n. 64) thinks, in view of the fact that both Katriyas and Brahmins play an equal role in these texts, that Upaniadic philosophy is mainly a joint product that has developed outside the traditional orthodox Vedic schools.

Garbes proposition remained within the confines of Vedic society. The discovery of urban centres belonging to the pre-Vedic Indus civilisation, on the other hand, focused attention on the non-Vedic elements in Indian culture. Sir John Marshall (1931: I: 52) described a figurine on a seal from Mohenjo-daro as a God, ... seated ... in a typical attitude of Yoga,5 and a statue as seemingly in the pose of a yog, and it [5] is for this reason that the eyelids are more than half closed and the eyes looking downward to the tip of the nose (id., p. 44, cf. p. 54). Indian asceticism, then, might have an altogether non-Vedic origin. This is indeed the position taken by several authors, some of whom speak of a ramaa movement outside the Vedic pale, which however influenced Vedic religion.6 A fair number of scholars these days emphasize none-the-less the continuity that exists between the Vedic sacrificial tradition on the one hand, and the penchant towards asceticism on the other. Consider, for example, J.C. Heestermans article Brahmin, ritual, and renouncer, first published in 1964, and reprinted in 1985 in The Inner Conflict of Tra5. This interpretation has been criticized in Srinivasan, 1984; During Caspers, 1985: 234 f. Basham (1989: 5) calls the evidence for Yoga in the civilization of the Indus so tenuous that the suggestions [that Yoga was practised] are quite unacceptable except as faint possibilities. (Added in the 2nd edition:) A renewed evaluation of this issue will have to take into considerations some of the elements added to the discussion by Thomas McEvilley (1981). 6. See, e.g., Dutt, 1924: 60 f.; Lamotte, 1958: 6 f.; Pande, 1974: 321 f.; Warder, 1980: 33 f. Lilian Silburn (1955: 135 f.) combines the last two points of view and ascribes a role to both ramaas and Katriyas. Harvey (1990: 10-11) presents another melange: Brahmins learnt of yogic techniques ... from ascetics whose traditions may have gone back to the Indus Valley Civilization. Such techniques were found to be useful as spiritual preparations for performing the sacrifice. Some Brahmins then retired to the forest ... Out of the teachings of the more orthodox of these forest dwellers were composed the Upaniads ... The ideas expressed in the Upaniads ... were being hotly debated, both by Brahmins and wandering philosophers known as Samaas, who ... rejected the Vedic tradition ... Olivelle (1992: 21) believes that when the evidence is examined completely it does point to a profound conflict between [renunciation and Vedic religion], a conflict that cannot be adequately explained if renunciation was in fact an orthogenetic development of Vedic thought.

dition (pp. 26-44). Heesterman finds in the Vedic ritual a development toward ever decreasing involvement with others. The pre-classical sacrifice, Heesterman claims, involved rivalry between different parties. This agonistic cooperation has disappeared in the classical sacrifice, where only one institutor of the sacrifice (yajamna) remains. This yajamna, however, is still dependent, this time upon his officiants. The [6] next step, therefore, would be in the direction of discarding the officiants. In Heestermans words (1985: 38-39): The development of brahmanical theory, set off by the individualization of the ritual, did not stop at the point where the host-guest, protagonist-antagonist complementarity was fused into the single unit of yajamna and officiants. It had to advance to its logical conclusion, that is, the interiorization of the ritual, which makes the officiants services superfluous. With the interiorization of the ritual, Heesterman thinks, we touch the principle of world renunciation, the emergence of which has been of crucial importance in the development of Indian thinking. One might of course raise doubts as to whether historical developments have to follow such rigid rules.7 It is however clear that elements of asceticism accompany the Vedic ritual. This is also the opinion of Hans-Peter Schmidt (1968), who follows Heesterman in believing that [t]here are ... in the Vedic ritual some significant details to be found which can be regarded as precursors of the later vnaprastha and parivrjaka (p. 651). His own article draws attention to the fact that the whole ritual is pervaded by acts meant for immediately eliminating any killing and injury the acts of appeasing (nti) (p. 646). It is even possible to speak of a ritual ahis-theory (p. 649). This ritual ahistheory, Schmidt suggests (p. 649-650), is the ultimate source of the later renunciatory ahis-doctrine.
7. This is probably also Olivelles (1992: 70) intention when he states that Heestermans theory depends too heavily on the development of ideas.

Again it is possible to raise doubts. One might recall, with Doniger and Smith (1991: xxxii n. 39), that [w]hile it is true that in Vedic ritualism there was expression of concern that the sacrificial victim should not suffer [7] or cry out ..., that he accepts his fate voluntarily and eagerly and so forth, all this is part and parcel of sacrificial ideologies everywhere. Halbfass (1991a: 113), too, questions Schmidts conclusions: Was there really a ritual ahis-theory? And in what sense can we say that this ritual ahis-theory is the ultimate source of the later renunciatory ahis-doctrine? Does it not seem more likely that external factors contributed to these developments which subsequently led to a sharp antagonism between Vedic ritualism and ahis as two basically different forms of religious orientation? A different approach is taken by Joachim Friedrich Sprockhoff in a number of publications, most notably in his article Die Alten im alten Indien (1979). Sprockhoff, too, thinks that the Vedic ritual is one of the foundations of sanysa (1987: 256). But he recognizes another root in the situation of the aged individual. Briefly stated, sanysa is here presented as the decision of the aged father to leave all his possessions to his sons and to disappear from his house and village.8 Such decisions, originally no doubt taken under pressure (if they were not cases of downright eviction), took on religious dimensions and resulted in the prescription that, ideally, the aged twice-born should end his days as solitary wanderer. The stage of vnaprastha should then be considered a first step in this direction. [8] It will be clear that both the approaches outlined above face serious difficulties. If we accept that asceticism is originally a non-Vedic phenomenon, we will be hard put to explain the ascetic features which
8. Already in 1879 Heinrich Zimmer (1879: 327-28) had drawn attention to the possibility in Vedic India to banish (aussetzen) the aged father; see also Haberlandt, 1885.

seem to be inseparable from the Vedic sacrifice. If, on the other hand, we postulate a Vedic origin, it is hard to explain the coherence of ideas encountered in the non-Vedic manifestations of asceticism. Also certain chronological questions such as the beginnings of Jainism, reputedly [9] 250 years before Mahvra are then hard to answer. There is a third possibility. Indian asceticism might have two sources, the one Vedic, the other non-Vedic.* This possibility avoids the problems connected with the two earlier ones. Moreover, it agrees with the textual evidence, as this book will show.** This two sources solution is, to be sure, not completely unknown to the secondary literature. Jean Varenne (1971: 12), for example, observed: Laccueil du Yoga par le brahmanisme ... est d ... surtout au fait que les rituels vdiques connaissaient des pratiques analogues
*

Tsuchida has argued in a recent publication (1997) that there may further have been a katriya tradition of asceticism. Further research will be required to substantiate this. ** Olivelle (1995: 13-14) comments in the following manner upon the first edition of this book: I remain unconvinced by both sides of [Bronkhorst's] argument, not because they do not contain some elements of truth, but because all by and large ignore the social and economic factors that underlie the emergence of these new religious forms ... Here Olivelle has obviously missed my point. Social and economic factors may explain what we find in our texts, and should certainly not be ignored. But before we look for explanations, we have to know what needs to be explained, and for that we depend on the texts. This book deals with the textual evidence. Olivelle then continues: That the Indian society in the Gangetic valley was composed of diverse ethnic groups, many of which were of non-Aryan origin, is obvious. It is equally obvious that the religious beliefs and practices of these groups must have influenced the dominant Aryan classes. It is quite a different matter, however, to attempt to isolate non-Aryan traits at a period a millennium or more removed from the initial Aryan migration. This may be correct, but does not constitute a criticism of the thesis defended in this book, which makes no claims as to the Aryan or non-Aryan origins of the beliefs and practices dealt with. Olivelle concludes: The most we can say is that the ascetic traditions contain beliefs and practices not contained in the early vedic literature, and that they are in many ways opposed to the central vedic ideas. This is quite correct, and it turns out that two currents of asceticism can be distinguished (and are distinguished in the texts), one of which deviates considerably more from the central vedic idea than the other. This is what the present book is about.

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celles que prne le Yoga ... Walter O. Kaelber (1989: 110) suggests that the brahmacrins career is in large measure a forerunner and legitimizing model for the initially heterodox practices of ascetics later assimilated into orthodoxy as forest hermit (vnaprastha) and world renouncer (sannysin, bhiku, pravrajita, parivrjaka, muni, yati ). Mircea Eliade (1969) finds precedents of Yoga in both Brahmanism and aboriginal India. Steven Collins (1982: 31) observes that the phenomenon of world-renunciation in India seems also to have drawn on extra-Brahmanical roots. Albrecht Wezler (1978: 111 n. 304) draws attention to the Tatsache, dass es, gleichgltig, of die weltflchtige Askese nun nur eine Wurzel hat, nmlich brahmanisch-ritualistischer Herkunft ist oder nicht, zahlreiche und verschiedene Formen der Weltentsagung gegeben hat, die zugleich eine deutliche Abkehr vom Brahmanismus und traditionellen Ritualismus darstellten; he is of the opinion that this whole complex of questions needs further investigation and rethinking. The linear approach which induced most scholars to look for one source of Indian asceticism, induced them also to look upon different forms of asceticism as being earlier and later, even in cases where both [10] occur in the same text, or in the same story. An interesting example are the studies of Hacker (1978), Wezler (1979) and Shee (1986: 1-30), all of them dealing with the Mahbhrata story of amka and gin.9 Only Shee (1986: 7) has pointed out that the two forms of asceticism described in this story cannot necessarily be ordered linearly into an older and a younger one. Phenomena of the same type such as asceticism in ancient India may, but do not necessarily all belong to the same current of development. Indeed, the present study intends to show that the different forms of asceticism that can be distinguished in India belong to (at least)
9. See also chapter 11, below.

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two different currents. These currents did not fail to influence each other in subsequent times, and become ever more difficult to distinguish from each other as time goes by. But they are clearly distinguishable in the early texts. [It will become clear in the following pages that one of the two currents to be considered has close connections with the belief in transmigration, each new birth being in accordance with ones actions. An earlier study (1986) has drawn attention to the complex of ideas that links this belief [8] to the different forms of asceticism meant to put an end to those rebirths. Briefly stated, these forms of asceticism aim at the elimination of all actions. They do so, grosso modo, in two ways. One of these is to literally abstain from all, or most, activity. This leads to a number of ascetic practices which share the common theme of motionlessness of body and mind. The other way centres around the insight that the body and the mind do not constitute the true self. This second way encouraged the development of different philosophies, which specified how body and self are related to each other; all these philosophies share the belief that the self does not participate in any action. This complex of ideas constitutes an organic whole.10 It is therefore not without risk to isolate one aspect or another from this complex and trace its history back to the Vedic texts. The fact that Vedic religion knows the phenomenon of renunciation (sanysa), or non-violence (ahis), does not necessarily prove that therefore this complex of ideas derives from Vedic religion.]***
10. This is not to deny that [i]n its concrete totality, the doctrine of karma and sasra is a very complex phenomenon, both historically and systematically (Halbfass, 1991a: 295).
*** This passage occurred, in slightly different form, on pp. 7-8 of the first edition.

Klaus Butzenberger has adopted in a recent publication (1996) a line of reasoning which he describes as a kind of methodological positivism, and which implies that

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If all specific features and characteristics of [the doctrine of the transmigration of souls] prove to be derivable from Indian texts, we confess to be in no need of assuming major or even relevant influences from other sources ... Non enim entia sunt miltiplicanda praeter necessitatem. (p. 58). Butzenberger furthermore claims on the same page that the extant Indian texts are perfectly sufficient in order to trace the sources, motives and origins of [that doctrine]. He then presents a scheme of how ideas about the afterlife might, or should, have developed. The inherent weaknesses of such schemes have already been pointed out while discussing Heesterman's ideas, above. Butzenberger's approach is also limited by the fact that he merely seeks to exclude pre-Aryan and extra-Indian influences, overlooking the fact that, just as Vedic religion and thought underwent major changes in the thousand years or so following its appearance in India, also the religious world views of those Indian who were less directly, or not at all, connected with Vedic religion might have undergone major changes. Most seriously, however, Butzenberger does not consider the fact that the Indian tradition itself clearly distinguishes between different currents of practices and beliefs, as documented in the present book.

PART I

THE RAMAS

Chapter 1. The pastamba Dharmastra Patrick Olivelle, following earlier authors,11 observed in 1974 that a number of old Dharmastras the oldest, by common consent present the four ramas not as four stages in the life of a high-caste Hindu, but as four alternatives, four options regarding how to spend ones life after an initial period in the family of a teacher. It would not be correct to take this to mean that these Dharmastras allow one to skip one or more intervening ramas; the very idea of succession is absent. The importance of this observation has gone largely unnoticed. It implies that one may become an ascetic without ever having been a householder, and therefore without ever having obtained the right to sacrifice. This, of course, is difficult to explain for those who believe that early Indian asceticism arose from the sacrificial tradition. The first and most important text to be considered is the pastamba Dharmastra (pDhS).12 This text deals with brahmacrins, parivrjas, vnaprasthas and ghasthas, in this order. This remarkable sequence which deviates from the later temporal sequence brahmacrin, ghastha, [12] vnaprastha, parivrja (or sanysin) is explained by the fact, already referred to, that no chronological sequence in the life of an individual is intended. Note to begin with that the pDhS prefers the choice of ghastha to the three other ones, and even rejects the other ways of life in which, according to the pDhS, the Vedic injunctions are not obeyed (2.9.23.10);
11. Deussen, 1909: 128-29; Farquhar, 1920: 40; Winternitz, 1926: 218-19; Kangle, 1986: III: 151. See further Brockington, 1981: 92; Olivelle, 1984: 100; Sprockhoff, 1991a: 15. 12. Cf. Sprockhoff, 1991a, which also mentions variant readings in the parallel passages in the Hirayakei Dharmastra and in the Satyha rautastra.

we shall see that the way of life of the parivrja is explicitly stated to be against the scriptures (2.9.21.15). Yet the text presents a clear and interesting description of these ways of life. Stras 2.9.21.7-16 deal with the parivrja. We learn that the wandering ascetic is chaste (8), without (sacrificial) fire, without house, without shelter, without protection, he is a muni who utters words only during recitation, who obtains support of life in a village, moving about without interest in this world or in the next (10);13 he uses only relinquished clothes (11) or, according to some, no clothes at all (12); he leaves behind truth and falsehood, pleasure and pain, the Vedas, this world and the next, searching his self (13). In this enumeration no painful mortifications are included. The life of the parivrja is no doubt simple, extremely simple, but the only remaining thing that interests him is not the capacity to endure hardship, but rather to find his self. This is extremely interesting. It shows that the parivrja of the pDhS is engaged in one of the two ways of escape from the never ending cycle of birth and rebirth determined by ones actions, briefly [13] explained in the Introduction, above. This belief is not unknown to the pDhS. Stra 1.2.5.5, for example, states that some become Ris on account of their knowledge of the scriptures (rutari) in a new birth, due to a residue of the fruits of their [former] actions.14 Recall that this way of escape may imply that, once the true nature of the self has been realized, the aim has been reached. The remainder of the description of the wandering ascetic confirms that this possible implication was known to the author of the pDhS. Stra 2.9.21.14
13. Sprockhoff (1991a: 10 + n. 42) translates fr den es weder ein Hier noch ein Dort gibt. He further suggests (p. 17-18) that stra 10 was originally metrical and read: anagnir aniketa syd aarmarao muni / svdhyya utsjed vca grme pradhti caret //. 14. pDhS 1.2.5.5: rutarayas tu bhavanti kecit karmaphalaeea punasabhave; yath vetaketu.

states: In an enlightened one there is obtainment of peace (buddhe kemaprpaam). The next two stras then turn against the preceding description. Stra 15 begins: That is opposed to the scriptures (tac chstrair vipratiiddham). No. 16 continues: If there were obtainment of peace in an enlightened person, he would not experience pain even in this world (buddhe cet kemaprpaam ihaiva na dukham upalabheta). These stras confirm again that the wandering ascetic is concerned with liberation through enlightenment; they also show that the author of the pDhS rejects this as impossible. [Here it must be pointed out that the pDhS contains another section to be precise: the eighth Paala of the first Prana which appears to be in contradiction with the above rejection of the parivrja. That other section sings the praise of what it calls the obtainment of the self. Indeed, there is no higher [aim] than the obtainment of the self (1.8.22.2). A number of lokas are then quoted, possibly from a no longer existing Upaniad,15 which elaborate this theme (1.8.22.4 23.3). This section does [14] not concern only the parivrja. Its concluding lines (1.8.23.6) enumerate the virtues that have to be cultivated in all the ramas, and which, presumably, bring about identification with the universal soul.16 The puzzling bit is the quoted stanza 1.8.23.3, which
15. Nakamura (1983: 308 f.) points at the similarities with the Khaka Upaniad. 16. The concluding portion is obscure: ... iti sarvram samayapadni tny anutihan vidhin srvagm bhavati these (good qualities) have been settled by the agreement (of the wise) for all (the four) orders; he who, according to the precepts of the sacred law, practises these, enters the universal soul (Bhler, 1879: 78); these are [the virtues] which must necessarily be observed thoughout all of the [four] stages of life. He who puts them into practice according to the rules becomes one who goes everywhere (Nakamura, 1983: 308); these (virtues) have been agreed upon for all the ramas; attending to them according to the rules one becomes possessed of that one who is going everywhere (= one becomes united with the universal Self) (Schmidt, 1968: 641). The commentator akara believes that one of the quoted stanzas refers to a state of renunciation (sarvasanysa), see Nakamura, 1983: 307 and 318 n. 10. This interpretation is in no way compelling. The relevant portion of the stanza (1.8.22.8) reads: (ya) ... prdhva csya sadcaret. This means no more than: and who acts always in accordance with its path. No far-reaching conclusions can be drawn from this.

seems to say that the aim of the religious life (kema) is reached in this life: But the destruction of faults results from the yoga here in this existence. Having eliminated [the faults] which destroy the creatures, the learned one arrives at peace (kema).17 It appears, therefore, that the author of this portion of the pDhS accepts what is rejected as impossible in the discussion of the parivrja. Do we have to conclude that the pDhS had more than one author?]18 We turn to the next question: The pDhS deals explicitly with the way of insight, practised by the parivrja. Does this mean that it knows the alternative way of inaction? Yes it does, and it speaks about it in [15] connection with the forest-dweller (vnaprastha). The forest-dweller, like the wandering ascetic, is chaste (19), without (sacrificial) fire,19 without house, without shelter, without protection, he is a muni who utters words only during recitation (21); until this point the description is identical with the one of the wandering ascetic.20 The forest-dweller, unlike the wandering ascetic, wears clothes made from products of the jungle (2.9.22.1), he supports his life with roots, fruits, leaves and grass (2); in the end only things that come by chance support him (3); subsequently he depends successively on water, air, and ether alone (4).21 It is clear that the forest-dweller reduces progressively his intake of outside matter.
17. pDhS 1.8.23.3: do tu vinirghto yogamla iha jvite / nirhtya bhtadhyn kema gacchati paita // Tr. Nakamura, 1983: 308. Note the use of yoga here and in 1.8.23.5. 18. The question is also raised in Gampert, 1939: 8. 19. The edition reads ekgnir ; this must be a later correction of original anagnir, which occurs in the otherwise identical stra no. 10 (beginning). The presence of a sacrificial fire is in any case excluded by the absence of house, shelter and protection. (According to stra 2.9.22.21 (agnyartha araam) a shelter is required for a fire.) See also Skurzak, 1948: 17 n. 1; and Sprockhoff, 1979: 416; 1991a: 19 f. 20. The term muni is used in connection both with the parivrja and with the vnaprastha. A similar general use of muni is found in the epic (Shee, 1986: 175). 21. pDhS 2.9.22.1-5: tasyrayam cchdana vihitam / tato mlai phalai parais tair iti vartaya caret / antata pravttni / tato po vyum kam ity abhinirayet / tem uttara uttara sayoga phalato viia /

Eating is reduced, then stopped, only water being taken in. Subsequently this too stops, while breathing remains. Then this too comes to an end, expressed by the words that the forest-dweller now depends on ether alone. It is not necessary to recall the fasts to death of Jaina and other ascetics in order to show that the author of the pDhS was also acquainted with what might be called the way of inaction. The part of the pDhS so far considered, then, teaches the four ramas as four alternative ways to lead ones life. The same alternatives are enumerated at ChU 2.23.1, be it that different terms are used. The [16] passage reads, in translation: There are three divisions of Dharma. The first is sacrifice, study [of the Veda] and munificence. The second is asceticism and nothing else (tapa eva). The third is the brahmacrin who lives in the family of a teacher (and who causes his self to sink in the family of the teacher).22 All of these obtain an auspicious world. [But] he who resides in brahman goes to immortality.23 The preference of the Chndogya Upaniad is the exact opposite of that of the pastamba Dharmastra. But the four possible ways of spending ones life are the same for both. We can take this passage from the ChU as a confirmation that we have so far correctly understood the pDhS. Let us return to the latter text. The only connection with the Veda of the parivrja and of the vnaprastha as described so far in the pDhS, is their recitation of Vedic mantras (svdhyya; so stras 2.9.21.10 and 21). These ascetics have nothing to do with Vedic rites, neither in their real, external form, nor in
22. Bhtlingk (1889: 99) considers this a gloss. 23. ChU 2.23.1: trayo dharmaskandh / yajo dhyayana dnam iti prathama / tapa eva dvitya / brahmacry cryakulavs ttyo (tyantam tmnam cryakule vasdayan) / sarva ete puyalok bhavanti / brahmasastho mtatvam eti //

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an interiorized form. Our text, in any case, does not say a word about it. Or rather, it confirms that these ascetics cannot perform Vedic sacrifices, by now introducing another type of forest-dweller, one who does sacrifice, and who for this purpose must take a wife and kindle the sacred fires. This other type of forest-dweller is described in stras that represent the opinion of some (eke), which may indicate that this description derives from a [17] different source altogether. This other forest-dweller finishes his study of the Veda, takes a wife, kindles the sacrificial fires and performs the rites prescribed in the Veda (2.9.22.7); he builds a house outside the village, where he lives with his wife and children, and with his sacrificial fires (8).24 This alternative way of life of the forest-dweller is also characterized by an increasing number of mortifications (stras 2.9.22.9 23.2). Stras 2.9.23.7-8 are especially interesting: they show that this kind of forest-dweller obtains supernatural powers: Now they accomplish also their wishes merely by conceiving them; for instance, (the desire to procure) rain, to bestow children, second-sight, to move quick as thought, and other (desires) of this description (tr. Bhler, 1879: 158).25 It will be clear that the pDhS describes, under the two headings of forest-dweller and wandering ascetic, not two, but three different forms of religious practice: 1) the way of insight into the true nature of the self; 2) the way of inaction, in this case: of fasting to death; and 3) a half sacrificial half ascetic way of life.26 Only one of these three ways of
24. It is the succession described in these two and the following stras that is announced by the word nuprvya in stra 6, not the successive performance (of the acts prescribed for the ramas). Olivelle (1984: 101) may therefore be mistaken in thinking that these rules constitute an exception to the rule that an rama has to be selected immediately after completing ones Vedic studies. See further Sprockhoff, 1991a: 25, 27. 25. pDhS 2.9.23.7-8: athpi sakalpasiddhayo bhavanti / yath vara prajdna dre darana manojavat yac cnyad eva yuktam / 26. Skurzak (1948) had already drawn attention to the threefold classification of ascetics in the pDhS.

11

life has any connection with Vedic ritual. Yet the pDhS is an orthodox Brahmanical text. It is hard to believe that its author, had he been aware of a connection between the other two ways of life and the Vedic sacrificial tradition, [18] would have kept silent about it. The conclusion seems justified that for him the way of life of the parivrja and that of the vnaprastha i.e., the one who does not sacrifice stood quite apart from the Vedic rites. Being an orthodox Brahmin, it is not surprising that he preferred the life of the householder to its three alternatives. We shall henceforth distinguish between non-Vedic and Vedic asceticism. We shall further assume that the two forms of asceticism described in the pDhS that have no link with the Vedic sacrifice, are reflections in a Brahmanical text of originally non-Vedic ways of asceticism. Besides these, the pDhS describes one type of Vedic ascetic. The practices of the Vedic ascetics are linked to the Vedic sacrifice; this is not true in the case of the non-Vedic ascetic. Indeed, the latter may not know the Vedic sacrifice from direct experience, and not infrequently he may not be entitled to, nor ever have been entitled to perform them. Vedic ritualism does not appear to play any role whatsoever in his ascetic endeavours. On the contrary, his efforts are directed toward liberation from rebirth, an aim which he may not share with his Vedic colleagues. The aims of the Vedic ascetics are harder to pin down on the basis of the pDhS. It may however be very significant that this text mentions the obtainment of supernatural powers in the context of the Vedic vnaprastha. Consider now the three types of ascetics which Megasthenes distinguishes in Schwanbecks fragment 41 (tr. McCrindle, 1877: 98-102): Megasthens makes a ... division of the philosophers, saying that they are of two kinds one of which he calls the Brachmanes, and [19] the other the Sarmanes.

12

The Brachmanes ... have their abode in a grove in front of the city within a moderate-sized enclosure. They live in a simple style, and lie on beds of rushes or (deer) skins. They abstain from animal food and sexual pleasures, ... Death is with them a very frequent subject of discourse. They regard this life as, so to speak, the time when the child within the womb becomes mature, and death as a birth into a real and happy life for the votaries of philosophy. On this account they undergo much discipline as a preparation for death. ... on many points their opinions coincide with those of the Greeks, for like them they say that the world had a beginning ... Of27 the Sarmanes he tells us that those he held in most honour are called the Hylobioi. They live in the woods, where they subsist on leaves of trees and wild fruits, and wear garments made from the bark of trees. They abstain from sexual intercourse and from wine. ... Next in honour to the Hylobioi are the physicians, since they are engaged in the study of the nature of man. They are simple in their habits, but do not live in the fields. Their food consists of rice and barley-meal, which they can always get for the mere asking, or receive from those who entertain them as guests in their houses. ... This class and the other class practise fortitude, both by undergoing active toil, and by the endurance of pain, so that they remain for a whole day motionless in one fixed attitude. One type of Brahmin ascetic is here described, besides two kinds of ramaas. Megasthenes remark about the embryonic nature of this life, [20] and of death as a birth into another, better existence is of particular
27. The remaining portion is also translated in Zysk, 1991: 28.

13

interest. The Vedic texts look upon the consecrated sacrificer (dkita) as an embryo preparing to be reborn into another kind of existence.28 It will also become clear in a later chapter that Vedic asceticism was in many respects a permanent form of dk. Megasthenes remarks about the two kinds of ramaas are even more interesting, for they correspond almost exactly to the two kinds of non-Vedic ascetic of the pDhS.29 One of these stays in the forest, and survives on what he finds there. The other one begs for his food and, very significantly, is engaged in the study of the nature of man; we can safely interpret: this ascetic is in search of the true nature of the soul.30 Both ramaas are described as remaining motionless for long periods of time. This remark shows that these ascetics belong to the non-Vedic current. Megasthenes testimony constitutes a striking confirmation of the conclusions which we were able to draw from the pDhS. Both sources state that there were two types of ascetics in ancient India, Vedic and non-Vedic. Both describe only one type of Vedic ascetic, and two kinds of non-Vedic ascetic. We cannot but believe that we are here confronted with fairly reliable descriptions of the actual situation, rather than with mere Brahmanic rationalizations. Let us once more return to the pDhS. This text uses the terms [21] vnaprastha and parivrja. Vnaprastha is used to denote both Vedic and non-Vedic ascetics; it is therefore difficult to determine whether this term belonged originally to the Vedic or to the non-Vedic realm. The term
28. See, e.g., Oldenberg, 1917: 405 f. 29. Megasthenes does not, therefore, refer to Buddhists; see also Halbfass, 1991b: 207. 30. This kind of ascetic is further described as physician, and Zysk (1990; 1991) has argued that yurveda in its origins is linked to non-Vedic asceticism. Wolz-Gottwalds (1990) criticism of Zysks position overlooks the fact that the non-Vedic ascetics presuppose the existence of social milieus from which they recruited their members, and which most probably shared many of their ideas (such as the belief in rebirth, but also perhaps the empirico-rational approach to disease).

14

parivrja, on the other hand, is here connected with non-Vedic ascetics only. This agrees with the use of the corresponding term paribbjaka in the Pli Buddhist canon. Here it refers throughout to non-Vedic ascetics. No term corresponding to vnaprastha is found in these texts.31 (The same is true of Pinis grammar, which may have to be dated around 350 B.C.E. (Hinber, 1989: 34). The term vnaprastha is not mentioned, whereas parivrjaka, bhiku, maskarin and rama do occur. Patajalis Mah-bhya (around 150 B.C.E.), on the other hand, mentions the cturramya under P. 5.1.124 vt. 1.) The situation is different in the Jaina canon in Ardha-Mgadh. Here the word vnaprastha (va ( p) pattha) occurs a few times, always in connection with Brahmanical ascetics. We read here about vnaprastha ascetics (vapatth tvas), who are, among other things, hottiy, which corresponds to Sanskrit agnihotrik according to the commentator.32 According to one ms reading, these ascetics are also sottiya, which might correspond to Sanskrit rotriya.33 Interestingly, the Jain canon uses on some occasions also the term parivrjaka (AM parivvyaga/-ya ) to refer to Brahmins. The parivrjaka Khanda(g)a, for example, knows the four Vedas with their agas and upgas, and many other Brahmanical and parivrjaka texts (Viy 2.1.12). Essentially the same description is repeated [22] for the parivrjaka Moggala (or Poggala) (Viy 11.12.16) and for the Brahmins Gobahula and Bahula (Viy 15.16, 36).34
31. See ch. 10, below. 32. Viy 11.9.6; Uvav 74; Pupph 3.4. Cf. Deleu, 1966: 122-23; 1970: 175; Lalwani, 1985: 184; Jain, 1984: 300; Leumann, 1883: 163 s.v. hottiya. 33. See Viy 11.9.6 p. 517 n. 3. 34. See further Jain, 1984: 302 f.

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Chapter 2. Sanysa The pDhS does not use the word sanysa or its cognates (sanysin, sanyasta, etc.). And indeed, it would be a mistake to associate these words with any of the ascetics so far described. The early texts use these terms in connection with an altogether different kind of ascetic. Very interestingly, these texts are not Dharmastras, but Sanysa Upaniads and a rauta Stra. The ascetic dealt with in these texts has a clear link with the Vedic sacrifice. But unlike the Vedic ascetic considered above, this one interiorizes the sacrifice, and continues in this new way his ritual obligations. We first look at a short passage from the Mnava rautastra (MS 8.25) which deals with him.35 This passage contains the term sanysa, but does not as much as mention the terms vnaprastha and parivrja, or any of their usual synonyms. The rule of renunciation here described implies that the renouncer parts with all his possessions, and abandons the sacrificial fires. The text makes clear that one has to be a householder with children, and therefore married, in order to qualify for renunciation; this requirement does not surprise in the Vedic sacrificial context of the MS. More problematic is, at first sight, the abandonment of the sacrificial fires. In reality the renouncer does not abandon his fires, [24] he rather makes them rise up within himself (8.25.6: ... tmany agnn samropayet ). Moreover, he heats himself at the three sacrificial fires (8.25.7: ... havanye grhapatye dakignau ctmna pratpayet ); we may conclude, with Sprockhoff (1987: 241), that the renouncer increases his tapas during this operation. Stra 10 adds that he takes ashes from the three fires, but the following stras are too corrupt to allow us to conclude with certainty what he does with them. Stras 12 and 13 specify that henceforth his meals and certain other activities are
35. This passage was recently studied by J.F. Sprockhoff (1987).

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his oblations. Stra 15, finally, tells us how the renouncer ends his days. The presence of twice v or seems to indicate that three alternatives are offered: 1) entering the fire, the road of the hero (agnipraveana vrdhvnam); 2) non-eating (anakam); 3) the rama of the aged (vddhramam). It is true that entering the fire and the road of the hero are presented, in some later texts,36 as alternatives. The preoccupation of the renouncer here described with the sacrificial fires, which he has absorbed in his body, permits us to take the present passage at its word: entering the fire is the preferred, but also most difficult method of killing oneself, and is therefore called road of the hero.37 The main elements to be noted in the passage from the MS are: 1) Sanysa is not brought in connection with the four ramas. [25] 2) The renouncer parts with all his possessions, including specifically the Vedic fires, which are interiorized. 3) The renouncer is or has been married. 4) He may decide to kill himself in some well-defined way. We find these same elements in the Kaharuti.38 However, the position of the sanysin with regard to the sacred fires is here inconsistent: p. 38 l. 7 f. states that they are interiorized, p. 32 l. 1 f. speaks rather of a transfer of the vital breaths into the fires. Sprockhoff (1976: 73 n. 20; 1989: 143) concludes rightly that the Kaharuti text cannot be a unitary work. This does not change the fact that the Kaharuti contains a
36. Jbla Upaniad p.68 l.2-4 has: aya vidhi pravrjinm: vrdhvne vnake vp pravee vgnipravee v mahprasthne v; similarly in Paramahasaparivrjaka Upaniad p. 279 l. 13 - p. 280 l. 1. The Kaharuti (p. 39 l. 3-4), on the other hand, presents entering the fire and the road of the hero together in such a way that it is not possible to decide whether they refer to one or two methods. 37. Instances where sacrificer and victim are identical are, according to Scheuer (1975: 78 f.), the epic characters of Amb and Avatthman. For traces of selfsacrifice by fire in the Veda, see Falk, 1986: 37 f. 38. See Sprockhoff, 1989: 147 + n. 2.

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particularly clear passage showing that the sanysin is dead to the world:39 Having made the sacrificial priests place all the sacrificial utensils on the limbs of the sacrificer (i.e., of his own), he should place (his five breaths, viz.) pra, apna, vyna, udna and samna, that are in (the five sacrificial fires, viz.) havanya, grhapatya, anv-hryapacana, sabhya and vasathya, all [five of them], in all [of the five sacrificial fires]. The connection between this passage and Vedic descriptions of funeral rites is beyond doubt,40 so much so that the only reason for believing that the present passage does not describe a real sacrifice i.e., the burning [26] alive of the renouncing sacrificer is the following context, which describes how the renouncer cuts off his hair, throws away his sacrificial cord, regards for the last time his son (if he has one), and wanders off. The initial prose portion of the (Laghu-) Sanysa Upaniad to be separated from the following lokas, and from most of what follows in the Upaniad satisfies three of the above four points.41 The person described is an hitgni, and therefore presumably a married man.42 We also read that two fires are interiorized (dvv agn samropayet ; p. 17 l. 8); according to Sprockhoff (1976: 63) these are the Grhapatya and havanya fires. Very interesting is further the remark that the sanysin to be wishes to go beyond the rama(s) (ramapra
39. Kaharuti p. 31 l. 7 - p. 32 l. 3: yajamnasygn tvija sarvai ptrai samropya yad havanye grhapatye nvhryapacane sabhyvasathyayo ca prpnavynodnasamnn sarvn sarveu samropayet. Cf. Sprockhoff, 1989: 147-148; Olivelle, 1992: 129-130. 40. See Sprockhoff, 1989: 148 n. 11; Bodewitz, 1973: 131 ff. 41. See Sprockhoff, 1976: 36 f., esp. 52 f.; 1991. 42. Some texts on Dharma allow for the possibility that someone kindle the sacred fire without marrying and becoming a householder; see chapter 3 below.

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gaccheyam; p. 15 l. 3). This does not necessarily imply that the four ramas were known, for the person described, being an hitgni, is probably a householder. Yet it justifies the conclusion: Der Sanysa ist ausdrcklich kein rama (Sprockhoff, 1976: 54). The relationship between sanysa and the ramas is further elucidated by a passage from the rui Upaniad. Here we read (p. 5 l. 3 f.) that a householder (ghastha) or a brahmacrin or a vnaprastha can abandon his sacrificial cord (upavta) and interiorize the fires (lokgnn udargnau samropayet ; p. 6 l. 1-2). There is no indication in the text that these three ways of life were thought of as succeeding each other; the order in which they are presented suggests the opposite.43 The precise [27] significance of the terms brahmacrin and vnaprastha in this context is not clear.44 P. 6 l.3 speaks of a kucara brahmacrin who abandons his family; this is obviously not the same as a Vedic student who lives in the family of his teacher.45 And if it is true that our passage speaks of interiorizing the Vedic fires (lokgnn udargnau samropayet is somewhat obscure), also the vnaprastha must be assumed to maintain a Vedic fire; this of course leads to no difficulty if a Vedic vnaprastha is meant here.
It will be clear from the above that some of the oldest texts that describe sanysa do not link this institution to the four ramas, even though at least one of these texts knows the term rama, and another one
43. This passage does not agree with p. 9 l. 1-2 which allows a boy to renounce already before the upanayana; the present passage speaks of abandoning the sacred thread, which is obtained at the upanayana. It is therefore hard to believe that the two passages were originally part of one and the same text. 44. See Sprockhoff, 1981: 59-60, which speaks in connection with ChU 8.5 about the wider sense of brahmacarya. See also Arthastra 1.3.9-12 which, while enumerating the ramas as four alternatives, mentions brahmacarya as a duty of the vnaprastha; see ch. 3, below. Note further that the Nyyabhya on stra 3.1.4 (nandrama ed. p. 193) speaks of the practice of brahmacarya in order to reach liberation: tatra muktyartho brahmacaryavso na syt. 45. On kucara/-caka, see Sprockhoff, 1976: 128.

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the terms ghastha, brahmacrin and vnaprastha. The earliest texts that describe explicitly the four ramas, on the other hand, do not mention sanysa.46 To this opposition another one must be added: the pDhS, as well as the texts to be considered in chapter 3 below, introduce the ramas as alternatives; sanysa, on the other hand, is reserved for men of a certain age. We shall return to this important distinction. One might try to explain these oppositions, pointing at the different [28] kinds of texts which represent the opposing points of view: the ramas are described in Dharmastras, sanysa primarily in Upaniads. The Dharmastras, one might argue, represent the interests and points of view of the ghasthas, while only the Upaniads were directly inspired by the ascetic ways of life.47 However, this approach to the texts is not without serious risks. It provides an excuse for not taking seriously a large proportion of our sources about ancient Indian asceticism. Moreover, it decides a priori that the sanysa of the early Sanysa Upaniads and the ascetic ramas of the early Dharmastras concern the same phenomenon. (And this a priori decision would then without much further difficulty entail that the whole of ancient Indian asceticism derives from Vedic antecedents.) No such a priori position will here be taken. If sanysa and the two ascetic ramas concern the same thing, the texts must provide evidence for this. Our inspection of the texts so far, however, suggests something quite different: the four ramas in the earliest texts do not cover sanysa ; and sanysa is no rama ! In a way this was to be expected. Sprockhoff (1976: 291 f.; 1979; 1980) has rightly drawn attention to the fact that the sanysin, though living in a biological sense, is dead to the world. Indeed, the ceremonies
46. A partial exception is VasDhS 10.4, which reads in the context of the parivrjaka : sannyaset sarvakarmi vedam eka na sannyaset / vedasannyasanc chdras tasmd veda na sannyaset //. See Olivelle, 1981: 269; 1984: 127 f. 47. This is essentially Sprockhoffs approach (1979: 376).

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that introduce him into this final state of life include his symbolic cremation, as we have seen. But clearly the four ramas, being presented as four alternative ways of living ones life, should not cover a way of living ones death! One thing, however, seems clear. The moment efforts were made to [29] include sanysa into the ramas, a temporal ordering of those ramas became virtually inevitable. For sanysa concerned the aged. This too has been convincingly shown by Sprockhoff. A text like the (Laghu-) Sanysa Upaniad, for example, introduces sanysa, very significantly, as an alternative to death for those healthy hitgnis who have not yet died. In other words, it is the mutual adaptation of ramas and sanysa which introduced temporal order into the former. A few words must finally be said about the number of ramas. The pDhS enumerates four of them, but only three are Brahmanic in the proper sense. In fact, we have seen that of the two ascetic ramas only the vnaprastha can be Vedic, the parivrja is completely non-Vedic. The addition of sanysa to the ramas in later times changed the situation, but at a price; for sanysa was originally no rama. In the light of these considerations it is not without interest to see that one verse of the Manusmti (2.230) speaks of the three ramas; this in spite of the fact that elsewhere (6.87) this same text enumerates four ramas.14 Also MBh 12.109.6 speaks of three ramas. MBh 12.311.27, finally, speaks of the three ramas that are based on the state of householder, and that do not please him who looks for liberation.15
14. Cf. Sprockhoff, 1991a: 39 f. 15. MBh 12.311.27: na tv asya ramate buddhir rameu nardhipa / triu grhasthyamleu mokadharmnudarina //.

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Chapter 3. The four ramas as alternatives We shall now briefly consider some other early texts which present the four ramas as alternatives. The rejection of all forms of withdrawal from the world which we found in the pDhS we find again in the Gautama Dharmastra (GDhS). This text concludes a discussion of the four ramas with the words: But the venerable teacher (prescribes) one order only, because the order of householders is explicitly prescribed (in the Vedas) (3.36 (= 1.4.35): aikramya tv cry pratyakavidhnd grhasthasya ...; tr. Bhler, 1879: 196). That is to say, the author of this text accepts but one of the four ramas. This does not stop him from providing a short description which represents the opinion of some (3.1 = 1.3.1) of the other three; the names used are brahmacrin, bhiku and vaikhnasa respectively. We are here of course especially interested in the bhiku and vaikhnasa (3.11-35 = 1.3.10-34). The first thing to be noted is that neither of these two, bhiku and vaikhnasa, appears interested in finding the true nature of the self. Both engage rather in various forms of restraint and mortification. An important difference between them is constituted by the different ways in which they obtain their nourishment: the bhiku begs, and is for this reason allowed to enter a village, the vaikhnasa never enters a village and lives by what he finds in the forest.48 An even more important difference, at any rate from [31] the point of view of our present investigation, concerns their position with regard to Vedic ritual. The text is silent about the bhikus link with it. The vaikhnasa, on the other hand, establishes a fire in accordance with the rvaaka (v.l. rmaaka ; 3.27 = 1.3.26: rvaakengnim dh-ya ), which is the authoritative book of the vaikhnasas (vaikhnasa stram ) according
48. The vaikhnasa, though never entering a village, is stated to live in a vana (3.26 = 1.3.25), not in the araya !

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to the commentator Haradatta. We might here be tempted to identify this vaikhnasa with the Vedic vnaprastha of the pDhS. There is however a major difference. For the vaikhnasa is not necessarily married! In normal circumstances he would therefore not be entitled to kindle the Vedic fire. The solution which was apparently devised for ascetics bent on an ascetic life-style from a young age, consisted in some special rules for the vaikhnasas, which allowed them to kindle the Vedic fire without first having to get married. The GDhS gives us no details concerning these special rules of the vaikhnasas. It is not impossible that they have found expression in the Vaikhnasa Dharmastra (VDhS), a text which, in its present form, seems to be younger than the GDhS.49 VDhS 8.6 requires that a householder who plans to take his abode in the woods (vanrama ysyan), whether he be in the possession of a sacred fire (hitgni ) or not, should churn a rmaaka fire and take it with him to his new abode. So the vaikhnasa of the GDhS appears to combine elements of the Vedic and non-Vedic vnaprasthas in the pDhS: he is no longer required to marry, and is yet allowed to kindle the Vedic fire, so as to become a sacrificing ascetic. But the bhiku of the GDhS, too, is an amalgam of different elements. He corresponds to the parivrja of the [32] pDhS, but without his most important characteristic, viz., the search for the self. He also corresponds to the sanysin, but is not stated to have interiorized his sacred fires. Indeed, the bhiku may never have kindled these fires to begin with. Also the Vasiha Dharmastra (VasDhS) presents the four ramas as alternatives. The vnaprastha is here once again described (adhy. 9) in terms which are often identical with the GDhS. Most importantly, he
49. Caland, 1929: xvii xviii.

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kindles the fire in accordance with the rmaaka, and become in this way hitgni (9.10: rmaakengnim dhyhitgni syt ). However, after six months he gives up fire and house, and dwells at the root of a tree (9.11: vkamlaniketana rdhva abhyo msebhyo nagnir aniketa). The result of all this is that the vnaprastha goes to heaven, to infinity (9.12: ... sa gacchet svargam nantyam ...). Chapter 10 deals with the parivrjaka. This chapter contains a number of quoted verses, which show that the VasDhS derived its information regarding this ascetic form from another source. We learn from these verses that the parivrjaka abandons50 all (sacrificial?) actions (10.4), that his mind is concentrated on his self (adhytmacintgata-mnasa), that he will certainly not return (10.17), that he aims at liberation (moka ; 10.20, 23). It seems clear that the parivrjaka of the VasDhS remains close to the parivrja of the pDhS. Both pursue clearly non-Vedic ideals, viz., liberation to be obtained through knowledge of the self. The fact that interiorizing the Vedic fire is not mentioned is not surprising: the way of [33] the parivrjaka has really nothing to do with Vedic ritual, and the text has made no effort to impose such a link. True, the parivrjaka is enjoined not to abandon one Veda, that is, to recite mantras (10.4) or, even better, the syllable o (10.5); but this does not affect our conclusion. After all, we are dealing with an orthodox Vedic text, which cannot but show a tendency to vedicize non-Vedic practices. The vnaprastha of the VasDhS is different. He combines like the vaikhnasa of the GDhS Vedic and non-Vedic elements. But the Vedic ritual element is weak: the sacrificial fire is kindled, only to be abandoned six months later.

Baudhyana Dharmastra (BDhS) 2.6.11.9-34 uses the designations

50. sanyas-; see note 12 to chapter 2 above.

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brahmacrin, ghastha, vnaprastha and parivrjaka. Like the GDhS and the pDhS, this portion of the BDhS accepts in the end only one rama, that of the householder (stra 27). Stras 14-26 describe the conduct of the vnaprastha and parivrjaka. Neither of the two is credited with an interest in the true nature of the self.51 The vnaprastha, now called vaikhnasa, is described in stra 15 in terms which are often identical with those of the GDhS. Here too he kindles a fire in accordance with the rmaaka. The parivrjaka, on the other hand, keeps no fire, and no link with Vedic ritual is indicated. A further difference between the two types of ascetics, as in [34] the GDhS, is that the vnaprastha does not enter the village, whereas the parivrjaka does, in order to beg his food.
Some passages from the MBh are of particular interest, not only because they present the two ascetic ramas as alternatives, but also because they link these two ramas to different aims. When king Pu becomes the object of a curse as a result of which he has to abstain from sexuality, his first reaction is to decide to become a shaven ascetic (munir mua [ ]; MBh 1.110.7), bent on release (mokam eva vyavasymi; 1.110.6), equal-minded to all breathing creatures (11), begging for his food and thinking neither good nor ill of those who cause him pleasure or pain (14).52 His two wives, however, oppose this decision, pointing out that there are other ramas, ramas which he can
51. BDhS 2.6.11.26, only found here in the mss. containing Govindasvmins commentary, has the following enigmatic reading: apavidhya vaidikni karmy ubhayata paricchinn madhyama pada saliymaha iti vadanta. Bhler (1882: 260) translates: (Ascetics shall) say, Renouncing the works taught in the Veda, cut off from both (worlds), we attach ourselves to the central sphere (Brahman). It is not certain that the central sphere is Brahman. Gombrich (1992: 173) wonders whether there is here an allusion to the Buddhists. (Added in the 2nd edition:) The analysis of this passage by Tsuchida (1996a) does not confirm Gombrich's conjecture. 52. This story of Pu is analyzed in Shee, 1986: 144 f.

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undertake together with his two wives, practising asceticism, and which permit him to obtain heaven (1.110.26). Pu then decides rather to become a vnaprastha (34); this implies, among other things, living in the forest, surviving on fruits and roots, making offerings in the fire twice daily, matting his hair, etc., all this until his body is finished (1.110.30-35). The plural of rama in verse 26 shows that there were at least three ramas for the author of this passage. Two of these are described: that of the shaven muni and that of the long-haired vnaprastha. Pu has the freedom to choose between them, which shows that they are alternatives rather than successive stages. Indeed, the fact that Pu plans to be vnaprastha until his body is finished confirms this.53 [35] The vnaprastha makes offerings in the fire and betrays thus his link with the Vedic sacrificial tradition. The muni does nothing of the sort, and does not appear to have any link whatsoever with the Vedic fire. What is more, his aim is liberation (moka ), whereas Pu as vnaprastha soon wins the road to heaven by his own power (srtha svargasya, 1.110.26; svarga gantu parkrnta svena vryea, 1.111.2). The same distinction is presented in Adhyya 9 of the ntiparvan (12), where Yudhihira makes known his intention to leave the world. His first option is described in verses 4-11. It implies living in the jungle (araya), eating fruits and roots (4), pouring oblations in the fire, fasting, having matted hair (5), and satisfying ancestors and gods (10). The second option is dealt with in verses 12-29: Verse 12 begins, very appropriately, with the words atha v alternatively. If one follows this option one becomes a shaven ascetic (munir mua) who lives by begging (caran bhaikyam; 12, 23) and abandons all attachments (28-29).
53. Shee (1986: 166 f., esp.174) draws attention to the discussion between Yayti and Aaka (MBh 1.86.1 87.3) which deals with the four ramas without introducing the idea of temporal order.

26

The connection of the parivrjaka with liberation is also clearly expressed in MBh 12.185.6, which speaks of the mokrama. The preceding discussion of the vnaprastha makes no mention of liberation: the vnaprastha can merely conquer worlds that are hard to conquer (12.185.2: ... jayel lok ca durjayn). The story of Mudgala (MBh 3.246-247) is of particular interest, even though it does not use the terms rama, vnaprastha and parivrja (ka ). Mudgala follows the rules of the life-style by gleaning ears of corn (ilochavtti ) in such a manner that a place in heaven is offered to him. Considering the (few) disadvantages connected with accepting this offer, he rejects it, abandons this life-style, and turns to dhynayoga, which allows him access to nirva, which is eternal. It is to be recalled that the [36] ilochavtti characterizes certain vnaprasthas (such as the Vedic vnaprastha in pDhS 2.9.22.10) and ascetic householders (e.g. BDhS 3.1.7; see ch. 6 below), and that this life-style leads to heaven according to the present passage. Liberation (nirva) requires a different practice, which our passage refers to by the term dhynayoga. A similar contrast opposes Vysa, the author of the MBh, to his son uka. Vysa practises asceticism for various this-worldly purposes such as, indeed, obtaining a son (MBh 12.310-311). The son has different interests: he takes no pleasure in the three ramas that are based on the state of the householder and looks for liberation instead (12.311.27).54 To conclude one more passage from the MBh which presents the four ramas as alternatives: MBh 12.226.4-5 speaks of a Brahmin who must, after studying the Vedas, choose one of the four ramas, viz., by producing offspring and [taking] a wife, by brahmacarya (?), in the forest
54. Cf. Sullivan, 1990: 40 f.

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in the presence of a teacher, or by accepting the duties of a yati.55 Mention may here be made of Arthastra 1.3.9-12, which briefly enumerates the special duties (svadharma ; 1.3.5) of the ghastha, brahmacrin, vnaprastha and parivrjaka, in this order. The order suggests already that these four ramas the term is used in 1.3.4 are alternatives and imply no sequence. This is confirmed by the description of the duties of the brahmacrin; these include residing till the end of his life with the preceptor or, in his absence, with the preceptors son or with a [37] fellow-brahmacrin (1.3.10: crye prntik vttis tadabhve guruputre sabrahmacrii v; tr. Kangle, modified).56 The duties of the vnaprastha include the performance of the agnihotra ; this shows that the present account agrees by and large with the accounts of the GDhS and BDhS. And indeed, the discovery of the self does not figure in the list of duties of the parivrjaka. The fifteenth chapter of the Ahirbudhnya Sahit contains an interesting description of the four ramas. This text is quite explicit about the fact that one chooses just one of the four ramas after the completion of ones Vedic studies.57 At this stage one can choose to become a brahmacrin, a ghastha, a vanastha, or a parivrj (the terms sanysa, sa-nysin, etc. are again not used). Of particular interest is AhS 15.18, according to which only the householder keeps a Vedic fire, the other three being without.58 AhS 15.56 specifies this for the
55. MBh 12.226.4-5: cryebhyanujta caturm ekam ramam / vimokc charrasya yo nutihed yathvidhi // prajsargea drai ca brahmacaryea v puna / vane gurusake v yatidharmea v puna // 56. Cf. Kangle, 1986: III: 151. 57. AhS 15.43cd 44ab: vedasny vratasny gurave daki dadat / prpynuj guror icchec caturm ekam ramam / 58. AhS 15.18: agnimn bahumtrvn eka kauumba rama / vratdinirat uddhs trayo nye nagnaya smt //

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vanastha: Worshiping the fire outside or inside himself, sacrifice is his principal object.59 The parivrj has made the fires rise up (in him) (samropy [a ] ... agn [n]; 15.62). We must conclude that the institutions of vanastha and parivrj in the AhS are already touched by the sacrificial element, as they are in most of the texts under consideration. One distinction between the vanastha and the parivrj the most important one, to judge by the pDhS is however preserved in the AhS: the vanastha occupies himself with [38] asceticism (the three mortifications tri tapsi ; 15.57) and reduces his activity (vttisakocakt ; 15.58), whereas the parivrj searches the highest self (anvkama skma ca paramtmnam tman; 15.64) and is less concerned with tapas.
It seems beyond doubt that the texts considered in this chapter present in their ascetic ramas a mixture of elements belonging to originally different ways of life. Most fortunately the pDhS, the MS and some early Sanysa Upaniads have preserved relatively uncontaminated descriptions of those earlier ways of life which enable us to disentangle the different elements. The confusion is not hard to explain. One important reason is that sanysa belongs to the end of life, and that the Vedic vnaprastha must keep the Vedic fire, and should therefore really be married. The ramas, on the other hand, were originally alternatives, each of which could be chosen rather early in life. The two divisions would obviously not go very well together. One would expect that the two forms of Vedic asceticism presented in our texts that of the Vedic vnaprastha and of the sanysin would tend to transmogrify the ramas so as to become a sequence. We know that indeed all later texts do present us the ramas as a sequence of stages in the life of a high-caste Hindu. The next chapter will study how exactly this came about.
59. AhS 15.56cd: bahir tmani vpy agni juhvad yajaparyaa.

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Chapter 4. The four ramas as sequence We have studied above the portion of the BDhS that deals with the brahmacrin, ghastha, vnaprastha and parivrjaka. The term sany-sa is not used here, for good reasons as we have come to think. Sanysa is dealt with in another portion of the BDhS, kaiks 2.10.17 and 18. The beginning of this section reads: 2.10.17.1: athta sanysavidhi vykhysyma After this we will explain the rule of sanysa. 2.10.17.2: so ta eva brahmacaryavn pravrajatty ekem According to some, he wanders forth from this very [state], practising chastity. The ata in these two stras evidently refers back to the preceding section, which deals with the householder desirous of offspring. Others disagree: 2.10.17.3: atha lnayyvarm anapatynm But [according to others, sanysa] belongs to lnas and Yyvaras, who are childless. 2.10.17.4: vidhuro v praj svadharme pratihpya v Or he is a widower; or he has established his children in their dharma.60 [40] 2.10.17.5: saptaty rdhva sanysam upadianti They prescribe sanysa after [the age of] seventy. 2.10.17.6: vnaprasthasya v karmavirme
60. It is not necessary to read the gerund pratihpya with the following sentence, as does Bhler (1882: 273); this may be an independent gerund clause, not infrequent in late Vedic and later Sanskrit; see Bronkhorst, 1991.

30

Or [sanysa is fit] for the vnaprastha when he abstains from [sacrificial] activity. These stras clearly look upon sanysa as something that takes place in old age, as indeed it should. But they also betray uncertainty about its prerequisites. Some think there are no special requirements; but the general tendency expressed by these stras rather seems to be that a period of chastity must precede sanysa. Stra 6 mentions the vnaprastha in this context. This may, but does not necessarily imply that these stras are familiar with a system of consecutive ramas. (It is true that stras 15 and 16 mention the passage from rama to rama (ramd ramam); but both times these terms occur in quotations, which in the case of the composite BDhS in which even the first two Pranas are not quite free from interpolations (Bhler, 1882: XXXV) might conceivably be interpolations.) Following stras describe how the sacred fires are deposited in the renouncer (esp. 2.10.17.21, 25; 18.8). This, of course, is essential to sanysa. But other stras emphasize the importance of the self, and its identity with Brahman (2.10.17.40; 18.9). This suggests that (Vedic) sany-sa and the (non-Vedic) endeavour of finding the true self had become linked up. As pointed out above, it is not certain that this portion of the BDhS knows the ramas as stages of life. Even if it doesnt, certain features of its description of sanysa show that it was but a small step removed [41] from that notion. With the Manusmti we come to a text that presents us the four ramas as four successive stages. It is also a text in which the confusion of features has become inextricable. The third rama in particular unites virtually all the features of the two Vedic and two non-Vedic forms of asceticism which we have come to distinguish.

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Entering the third rama, one may take his wife with him, but this is optional (6.3); one does bring the sacred fire to the new abode (6.4) in order to perform certain specified sacrifices (6.9 f.). Forms of fasting and mortification are prescribed throughout the section concerned. All this fits in general outline what we know about the Vedic vnaprastha of the pDhS. However, Manu 6.25 then tells us that the ascetic concerned who is supposedly still in the third rama deposits the sacred fires in himself, and lives on without fire and without house. This rather fits the renouncer of chapter 2, above. We learn subsequently in Manu 6.29 that the ascetic occupies himself with Upaniadic texts for the perfection of the self (tmasasiddhaye); this concern with the self reminds us of the parivrja of the pDhS. The activity which typifies the non-Vedic vnaprastha of the pDhS, finally, is prescribed in Manu 6.31: Or he should set out in a north-easterly direction and walk straight forward, diligently engaged in eating nothing but water and air, until his body collapses (tr. Doniger and Smith). There can be no doubt that the Manusmti is a composite text. This does not change the fact that its section on the third rama unites features which if our analysis is correct belonged originally to four clearly distinct ways of life. [42] The fourth rama does somewhat better, but not much. It is clear that the ascetic in this rama strives to obtain liberation (moka; 6.35f.),61 and that the way to obtain it is knowledge of the self (6.49, 65). But he also deposits the fires in himself (6.38), and practises tapas (6.70, 75). Most interestingly, even the Manusmti does not yet identify the fourth rama with sanysa; this has been pointed out by Olivelle (1981: 270 f.; 1984: 132 f.). Manu distinguishes also a so-called
61. Sometimes (e.g., 6.44) this ascetic is referred to as already liberated; cf. Olivelle, 1984: 132.

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vedasa-nysika (6.86),62 who gives up ritual activity, but does not leave home: he lives peacefully under the protection of this son ( putraivarye sukha vaset ; 6.95). That is to say, in spite of the confusion that is already noticeable in the Manusmti, this text preserves some of the earlier distinctions.
62. Doniger and Smith (1991: 126 n.) call this a troubling verse and point out that of the verses that follow it only in 6.94-6 is such an ascetic described.

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Chapter 5. Conclusions of Part I With the Manusmti we have arrived at the classical exposition of the four ramas; it is not necessary to pursue the development of this institution any further. The preceding chapters have shown that the development of the classical rama system in as far as it concerns its two final stages is the story of an ever increasing intermixture of elements which at one time belonged to four clearly distinguishable, and distinguished, forms of ascetic life. Two of these four show no signs of having any inherent connection with the Vedic sacrificial tradition: they are the path of mortification and the path of insight, both of which have an intimate link with the belief in rebirth as a result of ones actions. The other two forms of ascetic life preceding the classical rama system are connected with the Vedic sacrificial tradition, but their link to each other is less evident. There is, on the one hand, the Vedic vnaprastha, who lives the life of a sacrificer, but with a number of additional restrictions and mortifications. And on the other hand there is the renunciation (sanysa) of the aged sacrificer, who renounces everything including his sacrificial habits; only his fires he keeps, but in a different form: they are interiorized. There is one undoubtedly Vedic feature that pervades the life of all theses different ascetics: Vedic recitation. The fact that all the texts we have considered so far are Brahmanical texts, has certainly something to do with this. But it would be a mistake to brush, on this ground, the significance of recitation aside. Recitation had a tendency to make itself independent from [44] its sacrificial context. This tendency shows itself, for example, in a chapter of the Taittirya rayaka63 called svdhyyabrhmaa by its commentators and in the Jpakopkhyna of
63.

Text, translation and study in Malamoud, 1977.

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the Mahbhrata (12.189-193).64 Recitation of a sahit, as in the Jpakopkhyna, or of selected Vedic and non-Vedic mantras made its way into the ascetic and meditative traditions of India, so much so that its original link with Vedic religion became soon obscured. The details of this development cannot here be traced.65 But we should be aware that the mention of recitation (svdhyya, japa) in a certain text does not necessarily imply that the form of asceticism with which it is connected is of Vedic origin.

64. 65.

See Bedekar, 1964; and Padoux, 1987: 119. Biardeau (1964: 106) contrasts the meanings of the term svdhyya in Mms and Nyya on the one hand, and in Yoga on the other.

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PART II

VEDIC ASCETICISM AND THE SACRIFICIAL TRADITION

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Chapter 6. Vedic asceticism We have so far limited our attention to the ascetic ramas as they are presented in the earliest texts that mention them, without asking where these forms of asceticism came from. In the case of the two forms of non-Vedic asceticism this question may be difficult to answer. We know, to be sure, that these forms of asceticism were not confined to orthodox Brahmanism; on the contrary, it is no more than reasonable to think that the forms of non-Vedic asceticism which we have discerned had a non-Vedic origin, from which both the Brahmanical texts considered above and certain non-Brahmanical movements prominent among them the Jainas drew their inspiration. But the absence of textual evidence does not allow us at present to say more about this. Sanysa falls in a different category. Its link with the Vedic sacrificial tradition is sufficiently clear from the passages studied in chapter 2, above. Yet it is doubtful whether one can speak of an inherent link between sanysa and Vedic religion. If it is true, as seems likely, that sa-nysa evolved out of the custom to deprive the aged father of his rights, or, somewhat less harshly, out of the aged fathers decision to withdraw from his possessions and prerogatives, leaving them to his sons, it would be vain to search for the aspect of Vedic religion which gave rise to this institution. This is not to say that there is no connection at all with [46] Vedic religion. Sanysa took on religious forms which sanctified the separation between the sanysin and human society, and added a religious dimension to this incredibly hard way of ending ones life. Yet these religious forms would have to be looked upon as more or less adventitious. The present chapter will concentrate on the question of the relationship between the Vedic vnaprastha and Vedic religion. Sprockhoff (1979: 416 f.) has drawn attention to the similarities between the Vedic

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v-naprastha of the pDhS and certain kinds of householder called l-nas, Yyvaras, and Cakracaras described in the BDhS (3.1.1f.).66 These householders leave their house in order to settle in a hut or cottage at the end of the village (BDhS 3.1.17). There they serve the fires and offer certain sacrifices (19). They neither teach nor sacrifice for others (21). BDhS 3.2 enumerates the various ways of subsistence out of which these householders can choose. The ninth of these (3.2.16 f.) called siddhecch (or siddhoch) is most interesting in the present context. It is reserved for him who has become tired of the (other) modes of subsistence on account of old age or disease (dhtukaya). The person who adopts this mode of subsistence must interiorize (the fires; tmasamropaa) and behave like a sanysin (sanysivad upacra), [47] except for using a strainer and wearing a reddish-brown garment. This description shows that the way of life of these householders is not preparatory to that of the vnaprastha, as it has been claimed.67 On the contrary, the siddhecch presents itself as the mode of subsistence for those who are old and sick, and therefore likely to die as householders. Nor is there any indication in the text that this form of life was only, or predominantly, chosen by old men; the fact that one of the sub-choices is especially recommended for the aged suggests rather that the other alternatives were preferred by younger candidates. The BDhS is not the only early text that prescribes ascetic practices for the householder. Sprockhoff (1984: 25) has rightly drawn attention to
66.

Sprockhoff, 1984: 21 f., deals in more detail with these types of householder, and criticizes Varenne (1960: II: 81 f.), according to whom these are not ghasthas; in support of his position Sprockhoff refers to Schmidt, 1968: 635 n. 2; Bodewitz, 1973: 298 f.; Sprockhoff, 1976: 117 f., 124; Kane, History of Dharmastra II, 1, p. 641 f. One might add that the Padrthadharmasagraha (alias Praastapdabhya) refers to householders who, with the help of riches acquired through the life-style of lna and/or Yyvara, perform the five mahyajas; ed. Dvivedin p. 273. Heesterman (1982), having studied the opposition lna-Yyvara in earlier texts, thinks that in the BDhS the basic opposition has ... been reduced to a secondary differentiation within the common category of the householder (p. 265). 67. Sprockhoff, 1979: 417; 1984: 25; Schmidt, 1968: 635.

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the fact that gleaning corns (ilocha) which constitutes one of the possible ways of subsistence of the ascetic householders of the BDhS is enumerated among the proper occupations (svakarma) of a Brahmin in the pDhS (2.5.10.4). Also the Manusmti mentions this activity as an option for the householder (Manu 4.5, 10). The best householder, moreover, makes no provisions for the morrow (avastanika ; Manu 4.78); almost the same term is used in connection with the householder in MBh 12. 235.3, which also mentions the mode of life of the pigeons (kpot vtti ), another form of asceticism also found in the enumeration of the BDhS. In view of the above, we cannot but agree with Malamouds (1977: 60) observation: ... le vnaprastha nest quune varit de ghastha.68 Of [48] course, this conclusion applies only to the Vedic vnaprastha, the alternative variety of vnaprastha, described in the pDhS, who continues (or starts) his sacrificial activity here. The non-Vedic vnaprastha of the pDhS has obviously nothing to do with the ghastha. It is not possible here to study the origin of asceticism within the Vedic tradition. The evidence is meagre, and we would almost inevitably be led to speculate about earlier forms of the Vedic sacrifice, which is beyond the scope of this book.69 The later history of Vedic asceticism, on the other hand, offers fewer difficulties. It is clear how the Vedic vnaprastha could come to be looked upon as constituting a separate rama. Originally his activities differed in no way from those of certain kinds of householders. The influence from non-Vedic forms of asceticism led to the assimilation of what we have called the non-Vedic vnaprastha on the one hand, and the more ascetically inclined householders on the other. These householders now came to be
68.

Similarly Winternitz, 1926: 220-21. Some authors see in the vnaprastha a compromise between the life of the householder and that of the ascetic (Biardeau, 1981: 38; Sullivan, 1990: 43), but this does no justice to his historical position. 69. See, e.g., Heesterman, 1982.

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distinguished from their more worldly colleagues. However, the break between householder and vnaprastha was never complete; the pDhS, the BDhS, the Manusmti and parts of the MBh all of which know the four ramas, the last two even in their later, consecutive form still preserve rules that pertain to ascetic householders. It seems clear, then, that the rama of the Vedic vnaprastha is essentially a redesignation of a form of life which before that had been and to some extent remained an option for the Vedic householder. At best it emphasizes and enlarges certain elements which were not unknown [49] to the observant Vedic Brahmin. The ascetic element, in particular, is not at all foreign to the Vedic sacrificial tradition. The execution of a sacrifice demands from the sacrificer (yajamna) various restrictions.70 G.U. Thite (1975: 193 f.) enumerates and illustrates, on the basis of Brhmaa passages, restrictions concerning food according to some a complete fast may be required , sexual abstinence, limitations of speech e.g., complete silence until sunset , restricted movements, and various other rules. Similar restrictions are mentioned in the rautastras. The pS takes a rather extreme position in the following passage:71 When the consecrated sacrificer (dkita ) has become thin, he is pure for the sacrifice. When nothing is left in him, he is pure for the sacrifice. When his skin and bones touch each other, he is pure for the sacrifice. When the black disappears from his eyes, he is pure for the sacrifice. He begins the dk being fat, he sacrifices being thin.
70.

The consecration (dk) of the sacrificer has repeatedly been studied; see, e.g., Lindner, 1878; Caland and Henry, 1906: 11 ff.; Oldenberg, 1917: 397 f.; Hauer, 1922: 65 f.; Keith, 1925: 300 f.; Gonda, 1965: 315 ff. Knipe (1975: 124), who is aware of the ascetic element of Vedic religion, claims without justification that a renunciant tradition ... was certainly an important dimension of brhmaical orthopraxy well before the advent of the heterodox schools. 71. pS 10.14.9-10: yad vai dkita ko bhavaty atha medhyo bhavati / yadsminn antar na kicana bhavaty atha medhyo bhavati / yadsya tvacsthi sadh-yate tha medhyo bhavati / yadsya ka cakuor nayaty atha medhyo bhavati / pv dkate / ko yajate /.

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This link with the Vedic dk remains visible in some of the later texts. The BDhS, for example, speaks of the dks of the forest dwellers.72 Certainly not by coincidence these dks include the restriction of food to roots and fruit (kandamlaphalabhaka; 3.3.3), to what comes by chance [50] (pravttin; 9, 11), to water (toyhra ; 13) and to wind (vyubhaka ; 14), restraints which we know characterize the life of the vnaprastha (both Vedic and non-Vedic) in the pDhS. Also the MBh (e.g., 5.118.7; 12.236.14), the Manusmti (6.29) and the Ahirbudhnya Sahit (15.58) use the term dk in connection with forest-dwellers. One passage of the MBh (12.66.7) goes to the extent of calling the stage of life of the forest-dweller dkrama, which confirms our impression that this way of life constitutes one permanent dk.73 The observation in the MBh (12.185.1.1) that forest-dwellers pursue the Dharma of Ris is also suggestive in this connection.74 We find some evidence for Vedic asceticism in the Vedic texts themselves. Take for example RV 1.179, which contains a discussion between Agastya and his wife Lopmudr. Thieme (1963) has drawn attention to the fact that Agastya and Lopmudr live a life of celibacy, and that this was apparently not uncommon among Vedic seers who served truth (tasp).75 Another example is AB 7.13 (33.1), which has a corresponding pasBDhS 3.3.15: vaikhnasn vihit daa dk. The word vaikhnasa here is obviously a synonym of vnaprastha in stra 3.3.1. 73. Cf. Malamoud, 1989: 65. Malamoud (1976: 185) observes that the life of the brahmacrin, too, is one long dk. The extension from temporary abstinences to a permanent life of asceticism is not unknown outside India; see, e.g., W. Burkerts (1985: 303-04) remarks on this phenomenon in Greek religion. 74. Compare this with Biardeaus (1976: 35) observation that many Ris that appear in the classical mythical texts who live in the forest with wife and children, completely absorbed in their ritual observances, their fires, their Vedic recitation correspond rather well to the descriptions of the vnaprastha. An example of such a Ri is Vysa; see Sullivan, 1990: 27 ff. 75. See also OFlaherty, 1973: 52 f.
72.

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sage in S 188-89 (15-17). We find here the following stanzas:76 [51] By means of a son have fathers always crossed over the deep darkness, since he was born as [their] self from [their] self. He is a [ship] provided with food, that carries over [to the other shore]. What is the use of dirt, what of an antelope-skin? What is the use of a beard, what of asceticism? Wish for a son, O Brahmins, ... The mention of an antelope-skin confirm that the ascetics here criticized are Vedic ascetics: also the dkita is associated with an antelope-skin.77 Similar criticism is expressed in a loka cited in the atapatha Brhmaa:78 Durch das Wissen steigen sie dort hinauf, wo die Begierden berwunden sind. Dorthin gelangen weder Opferlhne noch unwissende Asketen. The fact that the Vedic ascetics are here criticized suggests that, within the Vedic tradition itself, there existed a certain opposition between practising ascetics and those who felt that asceticism should not go too far. This impression is confirmed by numerous passages from the MBh. Consider first the story of Jaratkru, which the MBh presents in two versions.79 The for us important part of the story is as follows. Jaratkru is an ascetic who abstains from sexuality, and who therefore has no son. During his wanderings he comes across his ancestors, who find themselves in an extremely disagreeable position: they hang down in a hole, heads down, attached to a rope which a rat is about to gnaw through. [52] The reason, it turns out, is the fact that their lineage is soon to die out,
76.

avat putrea pitaro tyyan bahula tama / tm hi jaja tmana sa irvaty atitri // ki nu mala kim ajinam kim u mari ki tapa / putra brahma icchadva ... // 77. See, e.g., Caland-Henry, 1906: 21; Oldenberg, 1917: 398 f.; Falk, 1986: 20 f. 78. B 10.5.4.16: vidyay tad rohanti yatra km pargat / na tatra daki yanti nvidvsas tapasvina [] //. Tr. Horsch, 1966: 136. 79. MBh 1.13.9-44; and 1.41.1 1.44.22. See Shee, 1986: 31-73.

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this because Jaratkru has no son. Jaratkru learns his lesson and begets a son in the remainder of the story, which is of no further interest for our purposes. In both versions of the story Jaratkru and his ancestors are Yyva80 i.e., one of those Vedic householders who, according to the BDhS, ras, live ascetic lives.81 Indeed, he is said to observe dk,82 to be a scholar of the Vedas and their branches,83 the greatest of Vedic scholars.84 The longer version makes clear that Jaratkru is an agnihotrin, one who never fails to perform the agnihotra sacrifice.85 Even more interesting is the self-professed aim of Jaratkrus ascetic life-style: he wishes to carry his body whole to the world hereafter.86 Shee (1986: 48, with note 83) draws quite rightly attention to the fact that this aim is known to accompany the Vedic sacrifice. It is clear from this story as it was from the AB passage discussed above, and from other MBh passages still to follow that the ascetic life[53]style which evolved within the Vedic tradition was not accepted by all.87 Or rather, it appears that the aspect of complete sexual abstinence met with opposition from the side of those who saw the possession of a son as the sole guarantee for future well-being.
80. 81. 82. 83.

84. 85. 86. 87.

MBh 1.13.10, 14; 1.34.12; 1.41.16. Jaratkru is brahmacrin according to 1.13.19; 41.12. See above. caran dk; MBh 1.41.2. vedavedgapraga; MBh 1.41.18. The same term is used to describe his son at MBh 1.13.38. (Here and occasionally elsewhere I follow the translation by van Buitenen.) mantravid rehas; MBh 1.43.4. MBh 1.43.13-20. MBh 1.42.4: ... arra vai prpayeyam amutra vai. MBh 1.13.43-44 states simply that Jaratkru went to heaven (svarga) with his ancestors. Cp. bara Bhya 1.3.4 (p. 103): apustva pracchdayanta ccatvriad vari vedabrahmacarya carivanta Some people, with a view to conceal their want of virility, remained religious students for forty-eight years (tr. Jha, 1933: I: 95).

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This same element recurs in connection with Agastya, an ascetic about whom a variety of stories are told in the MBh.88 His connection with Vedic ritual is more than clear. He is the son of Mitra and Varua, or simply of Varua.89 He takes an active part in the struggle between gods and demons.90 Most significantly perhaps, he is described as performing a great sacrifice, and as undertaking a dk of twelve years in this connection.91 This Agastya meets his ancestors in the same disagreeable situation as had Jaratkru, and he too decides to beget a son.92 The critical attitude toward asceticism, even within the Vedic tradition, manifests itself differently in the story of Yavakr/Yavakrta.93 Yavakrs connection with the Vedic tradition is beyond all doubt. His father performs the agnihotra.94 He himself practises asceticism in order to [54] obtain knowledge of the Vedas.95 The form of asceticism he practises is itself close to the Vedic sacrifice: he heats his body by placing it near a well-lit fire.96 He even threatens to cut off his limbs one by one and sacrifice them in the fire.97 Ritual purity is of such importance to him that his final fall will be caused by impurity.98 For the
88. 89. 90. 91.

92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98.

For his occurrence in the RV, see above. For the stories told about him in the MBh, see Shee, 1986: 74-118. Shee, 1986: 74 n. 1, 2 and 3. Shee, 1986: 74 n. 10. MBh 14.95.4 f. Note the mention of antelope skins (ajina; 3.95.10) to characterize Agastyas form of asceticism (= Vedic asceticism). This asceticism falls none-theless under the category grhasthya (3.95.1). MBh 3.94.11 f. Shee, 1986: 119-143. MBh 3.137.17. MBh 3.135.16, 19-21. MBh 3.135.16-17. MBh 3.135.28: samiddhe gnv upaktygam aga hoymi MBh 3.137.13-15.

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story of Yavakr, too, constitutes an example of misdirected asceticism.99

99.

Interestingly, another passage of the MBh (9.39.5-6; referred to in Shee, 1986: 124 n. 36) mentions riea who succeeds in obtaining knowledge of the Vedas by means of tapas. This passage clearly represents a position more favourable to asceticism within the Vedic tradition than the preceding one.

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Chapter 7. The position of the early Upaniads Our analysis thus far has all but ignored the early Upaniads. This may seem surprising, for it is precisely these old Upaniads that have often been considered to contain the earliest traces of the doctrine of karma and of the views and practices that came to characterize the religious current we are studying. The earliest Upaniads express these new ideas in a form which closely resembles the Vedic Brhmaas, which has often been interpreted to support the view that they made here their first appearance. However, the Upaniads themselves admit on several occasions that these new ideas are not Vedic in origin.100 They are then put in the mouth of Katriyas, often kings. This should not induce us to believe in a supposed Katriya origin of these ideas. Obviously no Brahmin could accept new ideas from dras or other low people, only the Katriyas being in positions of sufficient authority to be taken seriously. Indeed, one of the passages concerned states quite explicitly: This knowledge has never yet come to Brahmins before you; and therefore in all the worlds has the rule belonged to the Katriya only (ChU 5.3.7; tr. Hume, 1931: 231). In a religion in which obtaining power played such a major role, only those in the possession of even more power than the Brahmins might be considered to be able to impart new knowledge.101 Nothing is this way said [56] about the real origin of the new ideas. The new knowledge normally concerns the doctrine of karma, the true nature of the self, or both. We recognize these as the central themes of the non-Vedic religious current identified in preceding chapters. The
100. 101.

So Chandra, 1971: 322 f. Olivelle (1992: 38) suggests that the identification of a doctrine with a king ... may have served to signal that it was a doctrine of and for the new age, an urban doctrine suitable for the new urban culture.

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earliest Upaniads, not surprisingly, present these themes in a Vedic garb. Consider, for example, the teaching by the Katriya Pravhaa Jaibali to the Brahmin rui Gautama in ChU 5.4-10, which follows the remark quoted above. It presents first a long series of Brhmaa type identifications of a variety of objects with different aspects of the sacrificial fire. The crucial part of the teaching follows in ChU 5.10. Briefly put, it states that those who know this (i.e., the preceding identifications), and those who worship in the forest with the thought tapas is faith, will reach Brahma. Those, on the other hand, who in the village reverence a belief in sacrifice, merit and almsgiving will, after a complicated journey, be reborn in the womb of a Brahmin, Katriya or Vaiya if they were of pleasant conduct, and if otherwise, in the womb of a dog, swine or Cala. This passage merits some comments, for it highlights the position midway between two traditions of the early Upaniads. It clearly knows the distinction between rebirth and liberation from rebirth. Yet it does not speak of liberation from rebirth but of reaching Brahma. This choice of expression, about which more will be said below, is obviously inspired by the desire to use Vedic terminology. The further statement that this is the path of the gods confirms this. It is even more remarkable that the liberating knowledge specified in this passage is quite different from a knowledge of the self. This is very significant. The Upaniads represent a development of Vedic religion in [57] which knowledge plays an increasingly important role.102 There is no reason to think that this development owed its origin to the non-Vedic current which we have been studying. After all, its early manifestations (in the Brhmaas and esp. the AV-Sahit) show no link with ideas
102.

This aspect of the Upaniads is emphasized in Edgerton, 1929; 1965: 28 f. The continuity between Brhmaas and early Upaniads has recently again been emphasized by H.W. Tull (1989). Tull is however mistaken in thinking that this continuity proves the Vedic origins of karma. See also Boyer, 1901.

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about rebirth, liberation, and the true nature of the self. Yet both this Vedic development and the non-Vedic current concerned share the conviction that certain kinds of knowledge, or insight, are quite essential for reaching their respective goals. The Upaniads appear to bear witness to the interaction that took place between these two originally completely distinct religious currents.103 The passage just considered borrows the non-Vedic aim of liberation from rebirth, puts it in a Vedic garb, and offers it as reward for a typically Vedic type of knowledge. This same passage appears further to recommend tapas as leading to Brahma. BAU 6.2, which contains the same story in a somewhat different form, speaks in the present context of truth rather than of tapas (6.2.15); it [58] enumerates tapas among the activities that lead to rebirth in this world (6.2.16). The ambiguous position of tapas, which has a role to play in both traditions, Vedic and non-Vedic, accounts no doubt for its different evaluation in these two otherwise parallel texts. In BAU 2.1 (and in slightly different form KU 4) it is king Ajtaatru clearly again a Katriya who instructs a Brahmin, (Dpta)Blki Grgya. The teaching concerns the purua consisting of consciousness, identical with Brahman, and from which all vital energies ( pra ), all worlds, all gods, and all beings come forth. The knowledge here imparted concerns the true nature of the self, yet it is not
103.

So essentially already Winternitz (1908: 203): Mit dieser Priesterphilosophie, welche wir in den Brhmaas und den zu ihnen gehrigen rayakas verfolgen knnen, und welche teils das Opfer, teils das von demselben unzertrennliche heilige Wort (das Brahman) zum hchsten Prinzip erhob und zum Urquell alles Seins machte, wurde die ausserhalb der Priesterkreise entstandene und der priesterlichen Religion eigentlich zuwiederlaufende Lehre von dem inneren Selbst (dem tman) als dem Alleinseienden verquickt. Das Resultat dieser unnatrlichen und gewaltsamen Verquickung sind die Upaniads. Brockington (1981: 78) observes: So swift an acceptance [in Buddhism, Jainism, etc.] of the doctrine [of transmigration] probably conceals the fact that it was current in those circles from which the Buddha came before it penetrated orthodoxy. This is the more striking in that early Buddhism denied other basic tenets of the Upaniads ... Karttunen (1989: 154) remarks: As far as Buddhism and the Upaniads represent the same trend at all, the latter are an orthodox compromise.

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presented as liberating knowledge. Contrary to ChU 5.4-10, considered above, the present passage has only borrowed, and adjusted, the liberating knowledge, but not the idea of liberation. The borrowed piece of knowledge concerning the true nature of the self has, to be sure, been adjusted to its new surroundings. The self is equated with the Brahmanical concept of Brahman, the source of all there is. In a way this identification is a continuation, even the culmination, of the identifications which characterize the Brhmaas and other Vedic texts. At the same time this supreme identification Brahman = self constituted an almost natural inlet for the non-Vedic ideas into orthodox Vedism. The fact that, here too, the teaching is put in the mouth of a Katriya, indicates that we are not alone in thinking that in this passage non-Vedic ideas are being introduced. In ChU 5.11-18, once again, a group of learned Brahmins have to ask a Katriya king Avapati Kaikeya to instruct them on the true nature of our tman and of Brahman. Interestingly, here too no mention is made of liberation from rebirths. Note further that the king is not presented as a revolutionary: the Brahmins have to wait, upon their arrival, for the king is about to perform a sacrifice! The idea of a Katriya revolt against the [59] Brahmins is therefore in patent opposition to this passage. BAU 3.2.13 is another example of a passage which introduces only the new doctrine of karma, without speaking about knowledge of the real nature of the self, nor indeed of liberation.104 This time the new teaching is put in the mouth of the ancient sage Yjavalkya, who refuses, to be sure, to speak of it in public. It seems clear that we face here another way used to convince the Brahmins of the respectability, and this time also of the Brahmin origin, of the new ideas: they are not here attributed to
104.

It is not clear either whether the passage speaks of rebirth in the ordinary sense of the term; this was pointed out by Schrader (1910).

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Katriyas, but to an ancient and respected sage.105 Interestingly, this same Yjavalkya finds himself a little later (BAU 3.5) involved in a discussion regarding the true nature of the self, which is Brahman. The result of knowing the tman is described as follows:106 It is this tman, I say, which when they know, Brahmins abjure the desire for sons, the desire for possessions, the desire for [heavenly] worlds, and take up the begging ascetics life. We recognize in the begging ascetic who knows the self, or strives to obtain knowledge of the self, the non-Vedic wandering ascetic of the pDhS and elsewhere. Clearly this form of asceticism was known to the author of this portion of the BAU. This passage further bears witness to the fact that non-Vedic asceticism was [60] already practised by Brahmins. There is every reason to think that these Brahmins lived this kind of life in order to attain liberation, even though the present passage of the BAU says nothing to that effect. There is no need to discuss in detail all the Upaniadic passages that introduce the new ideas. One more passage (BAU 4.4.22) will here be cited which expresses explicitly the crucial doctrine that the real self does not take part in any action:107 Verily, he is the great, unborn Soul, who is this [person] consisting of knowledge among the senses. ... He does not become greater by good action nor inferior by bad action. The non-Vedic ideas do not only make their appearance in the Upani-ads. As an example we consider Jaiminya Brhmaa 1.17-18,108
105.

It is impossible to believe, with Basham, 1989: 43 f., that this passage shows that Yjavalkya invented the doctrine of karman, which he here still held secret but subsequently discussed in public. Yjavalkya, be it noted, is already an old man in B 3.8.2.25. 106. BAU 3.5.1: eta vai tam tmna viditv brhma putraiay ca vittaiay ca lokaiay ca vyutthytha bhikcarya caranti; tr. Edgerton, 1965: 141. 107. BAU 4.4.22: sa v ea mahn aja tm yo ya vijnamaya preu / ... / sa na sdhun karma bhyn no evsdhun kanyn /. Tr. Hume, 1931: 143, modified. 108. Translated in Bodewitz, 1973: 52 f.

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which has its own way of integrating the new ideas. This passage mentions, and accepts, both rebirth and the continuation of life in ones son. In order to make this possible the existence of two selves is propounded. The self of the human world is reborn in the womb of the wife, whereas the self of the divine world is carried towards the sun by the sacrificial and funerary fire. There this second self must answer the question who are you? If he merely mentions his name and the name of his family, he is sent back. (The text is not completely clear, but the expression Night and day overtake his world (tasya hhortre lokam pnuta) suggests that this self returns to the world of days and nights, i.e., to the world of mortals.) If, on the other hand, he proclaims his identity with the God Prajpati, he approaches the essence of good deeds [61] (sa etam eva suktarasam apyeti). The essential elements of the new doctrine are present: One will be reborn in this world, unless one knows the true nature of ones self. These elements are, here again, put in a Vedic garb which, this time, allows also for the Vedic belief in continued life in ones son. The concern with the true nature of the self that we find so often in these and other passages leaves no doubt that their authors must have felt akin to the life-style of the parivrja of the pDhS. And indeed, a number of Upaniadic passages confirm this. BAU 4.4.22, for example, states in connection with the tman:109 Such a one the Brahmins desire to know by repetition of the Vedas, by sacrifices, by offerings, by penance, by fasting. On knowing him, in truth, one becomes a muni. Desiring him only as their home, wandering ascetics ( pravrjin) wander forth. ... They live the life of a mendicant. The pravrjin of this passage and the parivrja of the pDhS have in common their wandering life109.

BAU 4.4.22: tam eta vednuvacanena brhma vividianti yajena dnena tapas nakena / etam eva viditv munir bhavati / etam eva pravrjino lokam icchanta pravrajanti / ... te ha sma ... bhikcarya caranti /. Tr. Hume, 1931: 143, modified.

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style, their habit to beg for food, their concern with the true nature of the self. BAU 3.5, too, explains that Brahmins who know the Self live the life of mendicants (bhikcarya caranti ). The new doctrines that make their appearance in the early Upaniads and which, I propose, were borrowed from non-Vedic currents did not radically change the Vedic tradition. The Upaniads remained, quite on the contrary, marginal. They continued a tradition of their own which, as time went by, became ever more outspoken in its criticism of the Vedic [62] sacrificial tradition. The Muaka Upaniad (1.2.7 f.), to cite but one example, states that only fools consider the Vedic sacrifices the best means; they will obtain old age and death all over again.110 The orthodox and orthoprax Vedic tradition simply ignored its Upaniads, including the oldest ones. The link of the later Upaniads with the rest of Vedic literature became, not surprisingly, ever more tenuous. Indeed, most of them came to be assigned to the Atharvaveda, which shows that their Vedic nature (ruti ) was not taken very seriously. The controversy in the commentaries on the Brahmastras whether sanysa is or is not a rauta rama, moreover, could not have arisen if any of the Sanysa Upaniads had been really considered Vedic.111 The oldest texts on Dharma rarely refer to the Upaniads.112 Very significantly, the pDhS, which has a great deal to say about the different forms of asceticism, does not refer to the Upaniads in this context. It is true that it mentions the Upaniads in a different context (2.2.5.1) and cites in 1.8.22-23 lines which show some similarity with the Khaka Upaniad,113 but this
110.

Deshpande (1990: 26) observes that the markedly anti-ritual tendencies and a decisive preference for the ascetic and meditative way of life [in the Muaka Upani-ad] may perhaps show a certain influx of non-Vedic traditions. 111. See Sprockhoff, 1976: 8, 22; Deussen, 1887: 648 f.; Thibaut, 1904: III: 693 f. 112. BDhS 2.10.18.15 speaks of teachers who explain the Upaniad (upaniadam cry bruvate) in the context of its description of the life of the sanysin. 113. Nakamura, 1983: 308 f.

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merely accentuates the fact that, in the opinion of the author of the pDhS, the Upaniadic tradition has no direct link with any of the three forms of asceticism he describes. Later texts on Dharma mention the Upaniads in the context of the ascetic ramas;114 one gains the impression that their [63] mention is meant to lend an air of orthodoxy to the ascetic practices which had originally nothing to do with Vedism. This marginal position of the Upaniads does not come to an end until, many centuries later, the Vednta system of philosophy gains enormously in popularity and manages to present the Upaniads as the expression of orthodox Vedism.115 This development cannot be separated from the intrusion of non-Vedic asceticism into the Vedic world view, even though an enormous time gap separates the two. To conclude this chapter, let us consider which of the ascetic lifestyles studied in the earlier chapters of this book were known to the authors of the early Upaniads. It seems more than likely that the two forms of Vedic asceticism which we have come to discern were known to them, even if the terms sanysa and vnaprastha were not necessarily used. Sanysa, as we have seen, concerned the fate of the aged, and indeed, Yjavalkyas departure (BAU 2.4; 4.5; Sprockhoff, 1976: 291; 1979: 396 f.; 1981: 68 f.) falls within this category. And if we are correct in thinking that the Vedic vnaprastha was really a householder who imposed upon himself extra restrictions, this form of life, too, may have been known to those Upaniads. We must however be aware that this form of life was not of much interest to the oldest Upaniads, for their object of real interest is the non-Vedic search for the true nature of the self. The ideal of the non-Vedic ascetic who, through cessation of activity, aspired to become freed from the effects of activity, did not find
114. 115.

So Manu 6.29, 83, 94. The earliest evidence for a Vedntic system of philosophy as an independent school appears to date from the sixth century C.E. See Mesquita, 1991: 214-15.

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much resonance in these Upaniads either, and is not obviously present in them.

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Chapter 8. Conclusions of Part II There is no reason to doubt that Vedic asceticism developed largely or wholly independently out of certain aspects of the Vedic sacrifice. It is certainly not impossible that this development was aided by the simultaneous existence of non-Vedic forms of asceticism, but this seems at present beyond proof. The available evidence suggests that the appearance of forms of asceticism within Vedic religion came about largely independently of anything that took place outside it. Similar claims have been made about the ideas of rebirth and karman.116 Here, however, the available evidence leaves ample scope for doubt. We have seen that many of the earliest passages that introduce these ideas contain themselves indications that they had a nonBrahmanic origin. What is more, there are numerous passages in early Indian literature a number of them presented in different chapters of this book which show that the ideas of rebirth and karman were associated in the Indian mind with non-Vedic currents of religion and asceticism. Most of the early Vedic passages which supposedly show the Vedic origins of these ideas concern, as Horsch (1971: 156) correctly observed, Universalvorstellungen, die bei den verschiedensten Vlkern der Erde auftreten, ohne dort zur Seelenwanderungslehre gefhrt zu haben. In other words, they [65] prove nothing. Nor does the continuity of style and content which exists between the early Upaniads and the earlier Brhmaas prove anything about the origin of the new ideas. It merely proves that these ideas could only be accepted by the Brahmins in a Brahmanic garb, fully integrated into their
116.

See, e.g., Horsch, 1971; Witzel, 1984; Tull, 1989. Note on the other hand Biardeaus (1964: 90 n. 1) remark: On peut donc penser que la doctrine des rites est reprise par les tenants du karman et de la dlivrance qui, ce faisant, lintgrent leur perspective.

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new surroundings.117
117.

The doctrine of karman kept having to compete with other causalities; see Halbfass (1991a: 291 f.) chapter Competing causalities: karma, Vedic rituals, and the natural world.

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PART III THE TWO TRADITIONS

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Chapter 9. Kapila and the Vedic tradition In order to study the opposition that was felt in the early texts between Vedic and non-Vedic asceticism, it will be interesting first to study the figure of Kapila. Kapila is often presented as a representative of non-Vedic asceticism. Toward the end of the chapter we will study a passage in which his type of asceticism is explicitly contrasted with another type of asceticism, viz., that of Vedic ascetics. Kapila is mentioned in an intriguing passage of the BDhS immediately after its rejection of the four ramas. Stra 2.6.11.28 states, in Bhlers translation: With reference to this matter they quote also (the following passage): There was, forsooth, an Asura, Kapila by name, the son of Prahlda. Striving with the gods, he made these divisions. A wise man should not take heed of them.118 Two features of this passage call for closer attention: (i) the demoniacal nature of the sage Kapila; and (ii) the opposition here expressed between the Vedic tradition and that associated with Kapila. (i) Kapila is, of course, primarily known as the sage who reputedly created the Skhya system of philosophy. In the classical Skhya texts [67] he is more than just a sage; he is an incarnation of God (vara). The Yuktidpik describes him as varamahari great seer who is [an incorporation of] God (Bronkhorst, 1983: 153). The Mharavtti speaks of the great seer called Kapila, an incarnation of the exalted old Self, the son of Prajpati Kardama (id. p. 156). God is also the light of Kapila (id. p. 157). Yoga stras 1.24-25, moreover, describe God, who is a special kind of self, as possessing the germ of Kapila, here referred
118.

BDhS 2.6.11.28: tatrodharanti / prhldir ha vai kapilo nmsura sa sa etn bhed cakra devai spardhamnas tn man ndriyeta //. The translation deviates from Bhlers in substituting Asura for sura. See Winternitz, 1926: 225; Lingat, 1967: 66.

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to as the omniscient one; in other words, God is the self of Kapila, and Kapila an incarnation of God. This interpretation is supported by the Yoga Bhya (Bronkhorst, 1985: 194 f.). The commentary on the Skhyakrik which only survived in Paramrthas Chinese translation tells us, under krik 1, that Kapila was born from heaven and endowed with self-existence.119 According to the Yuktidpik, again, he i.e., the paramari who gave names to things (p. 5 l. 9-10), is the firstborn (vivgraja ; p. 6 l. 1). V-caspati Miras Tattvavairad on Yoga stra 1.25, finally, calls Kapila an avatra of Viu, and adds that Kapila is identical with the self-existent Hirayagarbha, and with God (vara). Kapilas divine nature may therefore be taken as established for classical Skhya. An inspection of the earlier texts shows that Kapila was already divine in the pre-classical period. Consider, to begin with, Avaghoas Buddhacarita XII.20-21. Verse 20 introduces the field-knower (ketraja) and states (20cd): Those who think about the self call the self ketraja (ketraja iti ctmna kathayanty tmacintak). Verse 21 then continues: [68] saiya kapila ceha pratibuddha120 iti smti / saputro pratibuddhas tu prajpatir ihocyate // This must mean: [This ketraja] when having students and being Kapila is remembered in this world as the enlightened one. But when having sons and not being enlightened it is here called Prajpati. Clearly Kapila is, if anything, more elevated than Prajpati.121
119. 120.

T. 2137, vol. 54, p. 1245a l. 5-6; Takakusu 1904: 979. Johnstons most important ms. has - buddhi, which has been changed into buddhir in the edition. This reading does not however seem to make much sense. Kapila is described as buddha MBh 12.290.3.

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The Mahbhrata contains numerous references to Kapila, the supreme seer (paramari ). He is identified with Prajpati (12.211.9) and with Vsudeva (3.106.2); he is one of the mind-born sons of Brahman (12.327.64); or he is called deva god, identical with akradhanu, son of the sun (5.107.17). Both Nryaa and Ka say of themselves that the Skhya masters call them Kapila, possessor of wisdom, residing in the sun, eternal (12.326.64; 330.30; see also 12.43.12). iva is Sanatkumra for the Yogins, Kapila for the Skhyas (13.14.159). As propounder of Skhya, Kapila is mentioned beside Hirayagarbha, who propounded Yoga (MBh 12.337.60; 326.64.65; 330.30-31). Perhaps the earliest reference to the seer Kapila occurs in vetvatara Upaniad 5.2. Modern interpreters have not infrequently preferred the translation tawny, red to Kapila, because comparison with other verses of the vetUp (3.4; 4.11-12) shows that this seer Kapila must [69] be identical with Hirayagarbha and linked to Rudra.122 This identity poses no problem the moment we abandon the idea that Kapila ever was an ordinary human being. The present passage of the BDhS calls Kapila an Asura, i.e., a demon. It is to be noted that Asuras are not in principle subordinated to the gods; they are, on the contrary, often engaged in battles with the gods, battles which, it is true, the gods normally win. The fact that Kapila appears here as an Asura, is revealing. It suggests that the author of our passage of the BDhS knew Kapila as a divine being, but one who was not, in his opinion, connected with orthodox Vedism.123
121.

It is doubtful whether Kapila Gautama, the founder of Kapilavastu according to Avaghoas Saundarananda canto I, is to be identified with this Kapila. 122. See, e.g., Hume, 1931: 406 with n. 2. 123. Another instance where the term Asura appears to relate to non-Vedic Indians is discussed in Staal, 1983: I: 136 f. A similar situation may prevail in the case of the Rkasa Rvaa, who is elsewhere known as a prince of demons but who in this milieu (i.e., of the Kumratantra) occupies the position of a tutelary deity of exorcism (Goudriaan, 1981: 128); see also Goudriaan, 1977: 165 f.; J. Filliozat, 1937: 159 ff. Examples of the transformation in traditional narratives of enemy

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Kapilas characterization as son of Prahlda (prhldi ) is not without interest either. Prahlda is, in the earliest texts (Taittirya Brhmaa, Purapacalakaa, Mahbhrata ) the king of the Asuras (Hacker, 1959: 14 f.). This characterization, though unknown elsewhere in connection with Kapila, confirms that the latter is here indeed looked upon as an Asura. But Prahlda is also, in a number of passages of the MBh, a teacher of wisdom, who possesses omniscience (Hacker, p. 18 f.). This suggests that his link with Kapila may have more than superficial significance. For Kapila, too, is described as possessor of wisdom, of omniscience, as we have seen. Kapila is nowhere else, to my knowledge, explicitly described as a [70] demon. Yet some features of early literature are suggestive in this connection. Consider first the role of Kapila in the story of Sagara and his sons (MBh 3.104-106),124 as retold by Wendy Doniger OFlaherty (1980: 220 f.): King Sagara had two wives. In order to obtain sons, he performed asceticism ...; then, by the favor of iva he obtained sixty thousand sons from one wife and one son ... from the other. After some time, the king performed a horse sacrifice; as the horse wandered over the earth, protected by the kings sons, it reached the ocean, and there it disappeared. The king sent his sixty thousand sons to search for the horse; they dug with spades in the earth, destroying many living creatures, digging out the ocean that is the abode of sea demons. They reached down into Hell, and there they saw the horse wandering about, and they saw the sage Kapila haloed in flames, blazing with ascetic power. The sons were angry and behaved disrespectfully to Kapila; infuriated, he
into hero are known from elsewhere, too; see Forsyth, 1987: 36. (Added in the 2nd edition:) Hayagrva is an Indian example of a demonic figure who becomes divine, even an avatra of Viu; cp. Stutley, 1986: 111. 124. For a study of this myth in epic-puric literature, see Bock, 1984.

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released a flame from his eye and burnt all the sons to ashes. Then [Sagaras grandson] Auman came and propitiated Kapila ... One might wonder why Kapila practises his asceticism in Hell of all places. Even more telling may be that many elements of the above myth, as OFlaherty points out, recur in the story of Dhundhu (MBh 3.193-195) who, though playing a role similar to that of Kapila, is an Asura. I quote again from OFlaherty (1980: 222; with modifications): King Bhadava had a son called Kuvalva, who in his turn had [71] 21,000 sons. When the old king handed over his throne to Kuvalva and entered the forest, he met the sage Uttaka, who told him that a demon named Dhundhu was performing asceticism there by his hermitage, in the sands of the ocean, burning like the doomsday fire, with flames issuing from his mouth, causing the waters to flow about him in a whirlpool. Bhadava asked Kuval-va to subdue the demon; his sons dug down into the sand, but Dhundhu appeared from the ocean, breathing fire, and he burnt them all with his power of asceticism. Then Kuvalva drank up the watery flood, quenched the fire with water, and killed the demon Dhundhu, burning him up. The parallelism between Dhundhu and Kapila is emphasized by the MBh itself: Dhundhu burnt the sons of Bhadava with the fire from his mouth, just as Kapila had burnt the sons of Sagara.125 In conclusion it may be observed that Kapilas frequent association with suri might be significant: suri means son of an Asura. (ii) The opposition between Kapila and the Vedic tradition finds expression in an interesting passage of the Mahbhrata (12.260-262)
125.

MBh 3.195.25: mukhajengnin kruddho lokn udvartayann iva / kaena rjardla pureva kapila prabhu / sagarasytmajn kruddhas tad adbhutam ivbhavat // tr. OFlaherty.

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which records a discussion between Kapila and the seer (i ) Symarami, in order to show that both the life of a householder and that of the renouncer (tyga) result in great fruit and are both authoritative (260. 2-4).126 Symarami sings here the glory of the Vedic way of life, with heavy emphasis on the sacrifice. He criticizes the cessation of effort called [72] pravrajy of the lazy (alasa) sages who are without faith and wisdom, devoid of subtle vision (261.10). He rejects the possibility of liberation (moka ), pointing out that mortal beings rather have to pay off their debts towards the manes, the gods, and the twice-born (261.15). And he reminds Kapila of the central position of the Brahmin; the Brahmin is the cause of the three worlds, their eternal and stable boundary (12.261.11). Kapila, in his turn, stresses his respect for the Vedas (12.260.12: nha vedn vinindmi ; 262.1: na ved phatakt), but points out that the Vedas contain the two contradictory messages that one must act and that one must abstain from action (260.15). A little later he pronounces several verses which tell us what a true Brahmin is like: he guards the gates of his body i.e., his sexual organ, stomach, arms and speech , without which there is no use of tapas, sacrificing and knowing the self; the true Brahmins requirements are very limited, he likes to be alone where all others like to live in couples, he knows the original form (prakti ) and the modified forms (vikti ) of all this, he knows and inspires no fear, and is the soul of all living beings.127 Kapila then gives a description of the people of yore, who had direct knowledge of Dharma (pratyakadharma ; 12.262.8) and led in general exemplary lives. They all followed one Dharma which, however, has four legs: Those virtuous bull-like men had recourse to the four-legged Dharma; having reached it
127. 126.

Cf. Winternitz, 1926: 225. MBh 12.261.27-32.

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in accordance with the law, they [all] obtain the highest destiny, leaving the house, others by resorting to the forest, by becoming householders, others again as brahmacrins.128 Kapila also mentions the fourth Upaniadic [73] Dharma (caturtha aupaniado dharma; 12.262.27) to be attained by accomplished, self-restrained Brahmins (28). We learn from ChU 2.23.1 cited above, ch. 1 that this fourth Dharma belongs to the man who resides in Brahman (brahmasastha ), and the following verses of MBh 12.262 confirm this. The fourth Upaniadic Dharma is rooted in contentment, consists in renunciation, and in the search of knowledge.129 The two following verses then speak of liberation (apavarga) as the eternal duty of the ascetic (yatidharma), and of the desire for Brahmans abode, as a result of which one is freed from the cycle of rebirths (30cd: brahmaa padam anvicchan sasrn mucyate uci). In conclusion Kapila points out that (sacrificial) acts are a purification of the body (arrapakti ; 36), whereas knowledge is the highest path. But this does not prevent him from saying (v. 41): Those who know the Veda know all; all is rooted in the Veda, for in the Veda is the foundation of all that exists and does not exist. Kapila, according to MBh 12.327.64-66, represents along with certain other sages the nivtta dharma, he is a knower of Yoga (yogavid) and master in the science of liberation (mokastre crya). The group of sages to which Kapila belongs is contrasted with another group, consisting of knowers of the Veda (vedavid), whose dharma is pravtti (12.327.61-63). In MBh 12.312.4 the science of Yoga (yogastra) which leads to liberation (3, 6, etc.) is called kpila belonging to Kapila.
128.

MBh 12.262.19-20: dharmam eka catupdam rits te nararabh / ta santo vidhivat prpya gacchanti param gatim // ghebhya eva nikramya vanam anye samrit / gham evbhisaritya tato nye brahmacria // 129. MBh 12.262.28 cd: (sa) satoamlas tygtm jndhihnam ucyate. (Added in the 2nd edition:) For a detailed discussion of the fourth Upaniadic Dharma in connection with ChU 2.23, see Tsuchida, 1996.

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We now turn again to Avaghoas Buddhacarita. This text describes, among other things, how the future Buddha acquainted himself with various forms of religious life, before he found his own way to [74] nirva. Most noteworthy are his visit to the penance grove described in Sarga 7, and the instruction he receives from Ara Klma in Sarga 12. Ara Klma teaches a form of Skhya and mentions in this context Kapila (see above). His aim is to reach liberation from sasra (yath ... sasro ... nivartate; 12.16) through knowledge of the self.130 We recognize this as one of the non-Vedic ways leading to final liberation. At least as interesting are the Bodhisattvas experiences in the penance grove (tapovana, rama). Its inhabitants divide their time, as appears from the description, between a variety of ascetic practices and Vedic sacrifices. Very important in the present context are the reasons for which these practices are undertaken: most prominently mentioned is the obtainment of heaven (7.10, 18, 20, 21, 24, 48). Indeed, the main reason given by the Bodhisattva for leaving the rama is that he does not want heaven, but the end of rebirth. It is in this context (7.48) that he remarks that the nivttidharma is different from pravtti. Pravtti here designates the asceticism practised in the rama. The teaching of Ara, on the other hand, aims at final liberation (7.52-54) and belongs to the category nivttidharma. Here, then, Kapilas way is explicitly contrasted with the ascetic practices of the Vedic penance grove. The former is nivtti, the latter is pravtti; the former leads to liberation, the latter to heaven. To conclude this chapter, let us note that Kapilas link with renunciation is evident also from Baudhyana Ghyaeastra 4.16, which terms the rules of becoming a sanysin
130.

The meditative practices taught by Ara (12.46 f.) are of Buddhist origin.

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Kapilasanysavidhi.131 [75] P.V. Kane (History of Dharmastra II p. 953) draws attention to a line of royal kings called npati-parivrjaka kingly ascetics, attested in Gupta inscriptions, whose founder is said to have been (an incarnation of) Kapila.132 The Jaina text Uttardhyayana chapter 8, which describes the virtues of asceticism, is also ascribed to Kapila. The commentary on the Paava- describes the wandering beggars called Carakas as descendants of Kapila.133 Recall in this context once again that Kapila in the BDhS is the son of Prahlda. Prahlda, king of the Asuras, is frequently engaged in battles with Indra, king of the gods (Hacker, 1959: 16-17). But Indra is also antagonistic to the practice of asceticism, with which he interferes in various ways; Minoru Hara (1975) enumerates dissuasion, seduction by celestial nymphs, and straightforward violence, and illustrates these with passages from the MBh and from the Pli Jtakas. Again one is tempted to interpret these stories as giving expression to an opposition which was felt to exist between orthodox Vedic religion and the tradition of wisdom and asceticism linked to the names of Prahlda and, more in particular, Kapila. This tradition of wisdom and asceticism is, of course, the one which we have come to distinguish from the Vedic tradition. Kapila belongs most often to that manifestation of the non-Vedic tradition which looks for liberation from the cycle of rebirths through insight into the true nature of the self. It is not necessary to recall that the Skhya philosophy, in its various forms, is precisely the school of thought that stresses the fundamentally non-active nature of the soul, which is profoundly different from the material and mental world.
131. 132.

Gonda, 1977: 589. Fleet, 1970: 114-115. (Added in the 2nd edition:) Scharfe (1987: 308) proposes a different interpretation for the term npati-parivrjaka. 133. Jain, 1984: 304.

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Chapter 10. ramaas and Brahmins We have seen in chapter 1 that Megasthenes used the terms ramaa and Brahmin to refer to the two types of ascetics that we have come to distinguish. The opposition that existed between these two groups is confirmed by a passage of the second century B.C.E. in Patajalis Mahbhya (ed. Kielhorn I p. 476 l. 9; on P.2.4.12 vt. 2), which mentions the compound ramaabrhmaam to illustrate the sense ye ca virodha vatika opposition between whom is eternal. The term ramaa is little used in the Veda and in the epics.* It is, on the other hand, frequently found in the old Buddhist and Jaina canons. Indeed, the founders of these two religions are themselves referred to as ramaas (samaa in Pli and Ardhamgadh), as are their followers. The question to be addressed is: do these texts preserve any trace of the distinction that existed between ramaas and Brahmin ascetics? Consider first the Aggaa Sutta of the Dgha Nikya. While describing the history of the world, which is a history of ever increasing decline, this text relates (DN III p. 93 f.) how some beings decide to get rid (bhenti) of evil. This fact is presented as an etymological explanation of the name Brahmin, which these beings obtain.134 These Brahmins build leaf [77] huts in the jungle and meditate there. They are
*

(Added in the 2nd edition:) For a recent discussion, see Olivelle, 1993: 11 f. Olivelle concludes from the use of the term in some Vedic passages (essentially one: Taittirya rayaka 2.7) that here the ramaa is right at the centre of the Vedic tradition. However, he rightly points out that [t]he meaning of this term ... should not be simply assumed to be the same as in ... later (and we may add: different, JB) ascetical contexts. Indeed, the preponderant use elsewhere (e.g., by Megasthenes and Patajali) allows us to speak of a (non-Vedic) ramaa movement without much risk of confusion. 134. For a comparison with the Chinese parallels, see Meisig, 1988: 146 f. One of these parallels, the isolated text T. 10 (vol. 1) p. 221a esp. l. 12-13, reserves the name Brahmin for those who desist from meditating. This etymology, incidentally, indicates that some such form as bahaa or bhaa, instead of brhmaa, was in use at the time; Hinber, 1991: 186.

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therefore called jh-yaka meditator. This designation distinguishes them from certain among them who, incapable of meditating, become ajjhyaka non-meditator, but also reciter [of the Veda].135 The real Brahmins, i.e. those who meditate, are further described as follows:136 Extinct for them the burning coal, vanished the smoke, fallen lies pestle and mortar; gathering of an evening for the evening meal, of a morning for the morning meal, they go down into village and town and royal city, seeking food. When they have gotten food, back again in their leafhuts they meditate. It is remarkable, and somewhat puzzling, that the Brahmin meditators are here described as without fire. Perhaps Gombrich (1992: 174) is right in assuming that the vital terms vtagra, vtadhma, and paa- (or sanna-?) musala were borrowed from Brahmanical phraseology,137 but twisted to suit a different purpose. We may then also have to agree that this passage was not intended to describe a single historical phenomenon. It is however clear that the present passage does not claim that Brahmin meditators, who live in leaf huts in the jungle, are a thing of the past. It is true that certain among them have abandoned this way of life, but at least some have stuck to it. This is interesting, for the next page describes the [78] origin of the ramaas:138 Now there
135.

Richard Gombrich (1992, esp. p. 163) draws attention to the humoristic aspect of the etymology of ajjhyaka. 136. DN III p. 94: vtagr vtadhm paamusal sya syamsya pto ptarsya gmanigamarjadhniyo osaranti ghsam esan / te ghsa pailabhitv punad eva arayatane paakusu jhyanti /. Tr. Rhys Davids, 1921: 89. 137. BDhS 2.6.11.22 has sannamusala and vyagra, Manu 6.56 vidhma, sannamusala and vyagra; here these expressions refer, not to the situation of the ascetic described, but to that of the village in which he is going to beg. 138. DN III p. 95 f.: ahu kho so vseha samayo ya khattiyo pi saka dhamma garahamno agrasm anagriya pabbajati samao bhavissmti / brhmao pi saka dhamma garahamno agrasm anagriya pabbajati samao bhavissmti / vesso pi saka dhamma garahamno agrasm anagriya pabbajati samao bhavissmti / suddo pi saka dhamma garahamno agrasm anagriya pabbajati samao bhavissmti / imehi kho vseha cathi maalehi samaamaalassa abhinibatti ahosi /. Tr. Rhys Davids, 1921: 92, modified.

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came a time, Vseha, when some Khattiya, misprizing his own norm, went forth from home into the homeless life, saying: I will become a ramaa. Some Brahmin too did the same, likewise some Vessa and some Sudda, each finding some fault in his particular norm. Out of these four groups, Vseha, the group of the ramaas came into being. The Aggaa Sutta, as will be clear from the above two passages, distinguishes between Brahmin ascetics and ramaas. It adds that a Brahmin can become a ramaa, which implies that two ways of asceticism are open to the Brahmin. The properly Brahmanic way is characterized by a leaf hut in the jungle. The ramaa, as against this, is stated to go forth into the homeless life (anagriya pabbajati). The other features attributed to the Brahmin ascetic being without fire, begging for food in villages and towns are puzzling and do not agree well with the other sources of information which we have considered so far. A more detailed description of a Brahmin ascetic contained in the Buddhist canon shows that tending the fire did after all characterize at least some of them. I refer to the matted hair ascetic ( jaila) Kyapa of Uruvilv, whose encounter with the Buddha is described in the [79] Mahvagga of the Vinaya Piaka.139 Kyapa is not only a Brahmin (Vin I p. 25), but he is clearly presented as a Vedic ascetic who tends the sacred fire, for he lives in an rama, where he has a fire-house (agygra, aggisl). It is in this fire-house that the Buddha is going to combat a mighty snake, which represents no doubt Kyapas power. No need to add, the Buddha subdues the snake, or more precisely, he destroys with his fire the fire of the snake. Kyapa is subsequently converted,140 which may safely be interpreted to mean that he accepts the Buddhas powers to be greater than his own.
139.

Vin I p. 24 f., also CPS ch. 24; for a comparison with the two Chinese parallels, see Bareau, 1963: 257-266. 140. In the original account perhaps immediately after this event; see Bareau, 1963: 261-62.

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Another matted hair ascetic ( jaila) is Keiya, who figures in the Sela Sutta (Sn p. 102 (99) ff.; MN II p. 146) and in the Mahvagga of the Vinaya Piaka (Vin I p. 245 f.). Keiya, too, lives in an rama, and is described as favourably disposed to the Brahmins (brhmaesu abhippasanno). The Buddhist scriptures mention numerous encounters between the Buddha and one or several Brahmins. In the majority of cases the Brahmins concerned are not ascetics.141 The Subha Sutta of the Majjhima Nikya does however mention asceticism (tapa) as a Brahmanic virtue, along with truth, chastity (brahmacariya), study, and renunciation (cga).142 These same terms in Sanskrit satya, brahmacarya, adhyayana [80] and tyga respectively occur frequently in combination with tapas in the MBh to describe Brahmanic virtues.143 There can be no doubt that the Buddhist texts do at times use the term Brahmin in order to refer to Brahmin ascetics. A clear example is SN IV p. 118:144 Fasting, sleeping on the ground, bathing early in the morning and [reciting] the three Vedas, [wearing] rough hides, with matted hair and dirt, [uttering] sacred syllables, following ethical rules and observances, using ascetic practices, hypocrisy, deceit, sticks, the various ritual uses of water, these are the characteristics of the Brahmins, practised for some insignificant gain. This happens however almost exclusively in combination with the term ramaa, even where clearly only Brahmins are intended. Consider, for example, the Ambaha Sutta
141.

This led Thomas (1933: 86) to the conclusion that [t]he brahmins are never referred to as living an ascetic life. We have seen, and will see below, that this is not correct. 142. MN II p. 199. 143. See Hara, 1979: 29 ff. 144. SN IV p. 118 (read with the emendations proposed in Woodward, 1927: 75 n. 2, 5): ansak thailasyik ca / ptosinna ca tayo ca ved // kharjina japako / mant slabbata tapo // kuhan vaka da ca / udak ca majjni(?) ca // va ete brhmana / kat kicikkhabhvan //. Tr. Kloppenborg, 1990: 56.

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of the Dgha Nikya. Here the Buddha enumerates (DN I p. 101) four gates of destruction (apyamukha) which a ramaa or Brahmin may, unwisely, choose instead of the highest attainment of wisdom and conduct (anuttar vijjcara-asampad). The third of these gates is of particular interest: it concerns the ramaa or Brahmin who erects a fire-house (agygra) near a village or small town and stays there looking after (paricaranto) the fire. There can be no doubt that the fire talked about is the Vedic fire, and that the ramaa or Brahmin is a Brahmin. This is again confirmed by the fact that the description of this third gate occurs in a discussion with Am-baha, a Brahmin who takes pride in his descent. [81] However, the third gate of destruction must be read along with the other three. The first concerns the ramaa or Brahmin who lives on fruits that have fallen of themselves,145 the second concerns the ramaa or Brahmin who only eats bulbs, roots and fruits,146 and the fourth concerns one who entertains passing ramaas and Brahmins. These four gates of destruction together combine many of the features that we find in the Brahmanic ascetic studied in earlier chapters. Their mention in a discussion with a pretentious Brahmin appears to indicate that indeed all the characteristics of the four gates were actually practised by Brahmin ascetics. Theragth 219-221 describes the conversion to the Buddhas method by someone who used to tend the (sacrificial) fire in the forest (aggi paricari vane) and practised asceticism (aksi ... tapa; 219), who used to be a kinsman of Brahm, but has now become a true Brahmin (brahmabandhu pure si, idni kho mhi brhmao; 221). The testimony of Megasthenes (chapter 1, above) gave the impression that ramaas and Brahmins were different groups altogether. The rama-as corresponded to what we call the non-Vedic
145. 146.

pavattaphalabhojana. Cf. chapter 1 n. 11, above. kandamlaphalabhojana

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ascetics, the Brahmins encompassed the Vedic ascetics. The passages studied above, on the other hand, seem to mix up the two terms. This kind of confusion is not exceptional in the Buddhist texts. The Claassapura Sutta of the Majjhima Nikya (no. 40) lists quite a number of ramaas whose ramaa-ship (s-maa) is stated not to depend exclusively on this or that feature (MN I p. 281-82). We read here, for example, that the ramaa-ship of one who is unclothed (acelaka) does not depend on his being [82] unclothed, and other similar cases which are not problematic. The same list, however, speaks also of one who bathes ceremonially (udakorohaka), one who meditates on chants (mantajjhyaka), and one who has matted hair ( ja-ilaka). All of these are Brahmins. I.B. Horner (1954: 335 n. 2) draws attention to other text passages (SN IV p. 312 = AN V p. 263) which use the first expression to refer to Brahmins of the west. The other two expressions are clear by themselves. We see, then, that the expression smaa ramaa-ship can here be used in connection with a Brahmin. It is to be noted that Brahmins are not infrequently associated with special powers in the Buddhist texts. In the discussion with Ambaha we learn first that his ancestor Kaha was not really a Brahmin. But Kaha became a great Ri by studying the sacred mantras (brahme mante; DN I p. 96). These gave him great powers, which protected him against an attempt by king Okkko to kill him with an arrow. We have not, so far, spoken of the Buddhist Jtakas. Yet these texts contain much valuable information about different kinds of ascetics, both in the original gths and in the later, but still old, prose commentary. Before we turn to the stories, some preliminary remarks must be made. Jtakas recount what happened to the Buddha to be (Bodhisattva; Pli Bodhisatta) during his earlier lives, i.e., before he had found the way to Nirva. We cannot therefore expect to find Buddhist ascetics in these

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stories. (An exception must be made for the occasional Pratyekabuddha / Paccekabuddha; these figures remain however marginal and imprecise.) We do find other kinds of asceticism, which find however varying degrees of favour in these stories. The reason is clear. The [83] Bodhisattva being an ascetically inclined person, he is often presented as an ascetic in the Jtakas. But the form of asceticism which he practises is necessarily non- or only partially Buddhist, yet cannot be described by the Buddhist authors as totally worthless. Consider the Vessantara-Jtaka. This Jtaka, the longest one, refers repeatedly to what we have called Vedic asceticism. The banished prince Vessantara is often referred as looking like a Brahmin with his matted hair and garment of animal skin, with his hook and sacrificial ladle, sleeping on the ground and reverencing the sacred fire.147 He lives, with wife and children, in a leaf-hut (paasl) in the forest (vana), eating roots and fruit obtained by gathering.148 Royal ascetics (rjisi ) who have offered in the sacred fire (hutaggi ) dwell in the same area.149 A special mention is made of the seer (isi) Accuta, who lives in an rama (assama) and is described in exactly the same terms as Vessantara above.150 Other Jtakas, too, know the Vedic ascetic.151 The Astamanta-Jtaka, for example, concerns a Brahmin boy who, when he is sixteen, is told by his parents: Son, having kindled fire on the day of your birth, we have kept it burning. If you desire to become one whose heart is set on the World of Brahman, take the fire, enter the forest, and set your heart
147.

J VI p. 528 gth 2011, p. 529 gth 2016, p. 530 gth 2034, p. 533 gth 2055, p. 534 gth 2059, p. 539 gth 2115: dhrento brhmaa vaa sada camasa jaa / cammavs cham seti jtaveda namassati //. Tr. Cone and Gombrich, 1977: 47, 48, 49, 52, 53. 148. J VI p. 516 gth 1923 ( vana), p. 518 gth 1948 ( paasl), p. 542 gth 2121 (atho uchena ypema, atho mlaphal bah). 149. J VI p. 518 gth 1935. 150. J VI p. 532 gths 2037-38. 151. See Mehta, 1937: 572-73.

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on the [84] World of Brahman, worshipping the Lord of Fire.152 The boy is also offered the choice to become a householder. These two ways of life are here presented as alternatives, not as constituting a sequence. Almost the same words are used by the parents of the Bodhisatta in the Naguha-Jtaka. Here, however, they add that if their son prefers to become a householder, he has to learn the three Vedas.153 In other words, the Vedic ascetic does not necessarily know the Vedas according to this text!154 Even more interesting is the end of the Naguha-Jtaka. Here the Bodhisatta, after an unpleasant experience, extinguishes the fire with water, departs to become an Ri, and becomes one whose heart is set on the World of Brahman.155 Here two forms of asceticism are contrasted with each other, the one Vedic, the other without sacred fire, and therefore non-Vedic. It is also clear that the author of this Jtaka prefers by far the non-Vedic version. Something quite similar happens in the Santhava-Jtaka. Here too the Bodhisatta has to choose between learning the three Vedas and becoming a householder on the one hand, and tending the sacred fire in the forest on [85] the other. He chooses the latter alternative, has an unpleasant experience, extinguishes his fire with water, beating (?) it with sticks, enters the ascetic state of an Ri, and reaches the World of
152.

J I p. 285: putta, maya tva jtadivase aggi gahetv hapayimha, sace Brahmalokaparyano bhavitukmo ta aggi dya araa pavisitv Aggi Bhagavanta namassamno Brahmalokaparyano hohi ... 153. J I p. 494: mayan te putta jtadivase aggi gahimha, sace si agra ajjhvasitukmo tayo vede uggaha, atha Brahmaloka gantukmo aggi gahetv araa pavisitv aggi paricaranto Mahbrahmna rdhetv Brahmalokaparayano hohti. 154. The beginning of the Sona-Nanda-Jtaka (J V p. 312) suggests rather that the choice between married life and asceticism is made after the Vedas have been learned. 155. J I p. 495: ... Mahsatto aggi udakena nibbpetv isipabajja pabbajitv ... Brahmalokaparyano ahosi.

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Brahman.156 It seems clear that the ascetic state of being an Ri (isipabbajj) is here (unlike in the case of Accuta, see above) not characterized by tending the Vedic fire. The Jtakas do not tell us much about the two types of non-Vedic ascetics which we have come to distinguish. Some do indeed live in ramas, feeding on roots and fruit which they find in the forest, while others go begging in towns and villages. But several Jtakas create the impression that the non-Vedic ascetics can move from one of these two lifestyles to the other and back again for no clear reason. Consider the Uddlaka-J-taka. Uddlaka, having been made the teacher of a group of ascetics, asks the latter: Sirs, you always live in the forest, feeding on roots and fruit from the woods; why dont you go where there are people? They reply: Sir, the people give us gifts, then expect gratitude from us, want us to speak of the Dhamma, ask questions; for fear of this we dont go to them.157 There is no doubt a fair amount of Buddhist irony in this account of the ascetics reason to stay away from society. Indeed, the sequel of the story recounts how the ascetics at last follow Uddlaka to Benares, only to be exposed as knaves. One gains at the same time the impression that the composers of the Jtakas did not know very well why some non-Vedic ascetics remained in the forest, while others came to beg their food in towns and villages. This is all the more noticeable since, as [86] we have seen, the difference between Vedic and non-Vedic ascetics had not escaped their attention. We have seen (chapter 1) that the Jaina canon has a tendency to use the term parivrjaka to refer to Brahmins, thus confusing to some extent the original distinction between ramaas and Brahmins. The distinction
156. 157.

J II p. 43-45. J IV p. 298: atha ne so ha: mris tumhe nicca vanamlaphalhr arae yeva vasatha, manussapatha kasm na gacchath ti / mrisa, manuss nma dna datv anumodana krpenti dhammakatha kathpenti paha pucchanti, maya tena bhayena tattha na gacchma/

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is nevertheless known, for the compound samaamhaa, ramaas and Brahmins, occurs in the Syagaa.158 In an enumeration of five types of beggars (vamaga), moreover, Brahmins (mhaa) and ramaas are mentioned separately.159 It is not, however, certain that we must in this last case think of Brahmins who actually beg for their food; it is also conceivable that Brahmins in general are here described as potential recipients of gifts. The institution of Brahmin asceticism, on the other hand, is well known to the Jaina canon, as is shown by the references given at the end of chapter 1, above.
158. 159.

Sy 2.2.696. h 5.3.454; see Jain, 1984: 316.

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Chapter 11. Asceticism in the Mahbhrat a The MBh does not appear to distinguish between ramaas and Brahmins. The two kinds of ascetics that we are studying are, however, not unknown to this epic. But where the Buddhist and Jaina texts contain much information about non-Vedic asceticism, the MBh contains, in its narrative portions, mainly information about Vedic asceticism. We have considered a number of Vedic ascetics from the MBh in chapter 6, above. Their asceticism takes place in connection with the Vedic sacrifice or replaces it. Its aims are by and large the same as those of the sacrifice: reaching heaven, preferably in bodily form, supporting the gods in their fights with the demons, obtaining certain powers, obtaining a son, etc.160 Vedic asceticism can therefore be looked upon as an extension and elaboration of the ascetic elements which are present in the Vedic sacrifice. Non-Vedic asceticism, as we have come to know it in the preceding pages, has quite different aims.161 It aims primarily at inaction, with the [88] ultimate goal of liberation from the effects of ones actions. These are hardly ideals which easily give rise to stories, as do the aims of the Vedic ascetic. We may however be sure that where the two forms of
160.

See Shee, 1986: 346 f. Cf. Hara, 1979: 511 ff. On the connection that existed, and exists, between ascetics and other holy men on the one hand, and performing magicians on the other, see Siegel, 1991: passim. On levitation, for example, Siegel observes (p. 215): Its impossible to know if such religious stories ... result from people having seen magicians do the levitation trick, from their need to explain it, or if the trick is invented, its method worked out, by magicians who have heard the stories and realize that, because people believe such things as levitation are possible and a mark of merit or of ritual accomplishment, there is power to be had in the performance of them. In either case, the street magicians, of the present as well as of the past, try to elicit religious associations. 161. Hara (1979: 517) notices, with regard to the MBh, the incapability of tapas to be ranked among the highest religious ideals (vairgya, moka, nirva), which are never found in the accusative case in such passages where tapas stands in the instrumental.

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asceticism confront each other, the non-Vedic ascetic can not really be expected to deny the powers which the Vedic ascetic claims to possess, or acquire; this would obviously weaken his position in the eyes of all outsiders. Rather one would expect to find passages where the non-Vedic ascetic is counseled against the use of these powers. A confrontation of this type is found in the longer version of the story of amka and gin.162 Wezler (1979) has argued that this is the amplified form of the shorter version,163 and has itself suffered at least one addition. Whether or not this be the case, there are some important points to be noted. Both the long and the short version describe amka as an ascetic characterized by motionlessness and silence, at least during the events which make up the story. He is like a tree trunk (sthubhta, 1.37.7; sthuvat, 1.45.25) and observing silence (maunavrate sthita, 1.36.18, 46.7; anabhibhin, 1.37.6; maunavratadhara, 1.45.25; etc.), even when king Parikit puts in anger a dead snake on his shoulder. In fact, he does nothing to remove the snake even after the departure of the king (tathaiva ste, 1.36.20, 37.9; etc.). The parallelism with certain stories from Jaina literature is striking,164 and one is tempted to conclude that amkas asceticism is of the nonVedic type. This seems confirmed in the last part of the longer version, where amka states unambiguously that the ascetic should abandon anger and cultivate serenity (ama) and forgiveness [89] (kam). The object of these instructions is amkas son gin who had, in an attack of anger, directed his ascetic powers against king Parikit. It will be clear that those who follow amkas advice are hardly the characters that could provide the MBh with its many stories about ascetics. Even amka found his way into the epic owing to the fact that his son also a great ascetic was less restrained than his father.
162. 163. 164.

MBh 1.36.8 1.38.26. MBh 1.45.20 f. See, e.g., yraga 9.2, tr. Jaini, 1979: 26; further Wezler, 1979: 55.

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This interpretation of the story of amka and gin, however, can be no more than tentative, for two reasons. The first one is that the story does not tell us whether amka is in search of liberation, the differentiating characteristic of the non-Vedic tradition. This means that we have to judge on the basis of his practices. But Vedic ascetic practices are frequently very similar to non-Vedic ones. The theme of motionlessness characterizes also ascetics who strive for more worldly aims. Cyavana Bhrgava, for example, remains like a tree trunk (sthubhta; MBh 3.122.2) until an ant-hill has formed around him; he uses his ascetic powers to cause constipation in the army of the king, then marries his daughter. Svitr stands upright as though she had become wood (khabhteva; MBh 3.280.8) in order to save her husband from death. The three Ris Ekata, Dvita and Trita stand on one leg for four thousand years like pieces of wood (khabhta; MBh 12.323.20) in order to see Nryaa. Opposition against the use of the powers arising from asceticism is also found in the philosophic portions of the MBh. These portions frequently speak of Yoga, which is considered to give rise to supernatural powers. However, he who having passed beyond the supernatural powers of Yoga, leaves them behind, is released.165 These powers are [90] described as mastery over [the gross elements] earth, air, ether, water, and fire, and of the I-faculty (12.228.14) or mastery of the unmanifest (avyakta) (15). Elsewhere we read: The Yoga-follower, having attained power, can create many thousands of selves (i.e., may make himself many-thousand fold), and may roam the earth in all these (guises) (12.289.26). The real aim of Yoga, in these passages, is different from these supernatural powers: As an archer that is attentive and concentrated hits the target, so the perfectly disciplined (yukta) yogin attains liberation
165.

MBh 12.228.37cd: yogaivaryam atikrnto yo tikrmati mucyate. Here and in what follows I make use of Edgertons (1965) translation.

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(moka), without a doubt (12.289.31). This same chapter of the MBh explains that Yoga consists in disciplining the self so that it is motionless (33), remaining motionless (38). Exercises in concentration (samdhi) and fixation (dhra) are obviously means to attain this aim. There is no need to multiply citations, for the nature of epic Yoga is already well-known. Nor is it necessary to analyse the philosophies presented in the MBh often referred to as Skhya which share the idea of a motionless self; they have to, because these philosophies constitute the knowledge which is deemed to lead to liberation.166 We must address the question whether the two forms of asceticism which we have come to distinguish Vedic and non-Vedic are referred to by the two terms tapas and yoga respectively. A priori there is much that seems to support this. The literal meaning of tapas heat fits well in the Vedic sacrificial context. Yoga, on the other hand, is frequently used in combination with Skhya; both terms refer to methods that lead to liberation.167 [91] It must not, however, be overlooked that both the terms tapas and yoga are used in connection with both Vedic and non-Vedic asceticism. We have also seen that supernatural powers are ascribed to the practice of Yoga. All this can, of course, be easily explained on the assumption that the two forms of asceticism influenced each other and borrowed each others terminology. This may very well be the correct explanation, yet I know of no evidence which would definitely prove the original dichotomy between tapas and yoga. Their original connection with only Vedic and non-Vedic asceticism respectively remains therefore an attractive, but unproven, hypothesis. To conclude this chapter I would like to draw attention to an episode in the MBh where explicit Vedic elements appear to have been added to
166. 167.

See Edgerton, 1965: 35 f.; Bronkhorst, 1986: 51 f. See Hara, 1979: 517, cited in n. 2 above; and Hopkins, 1901: 367 f.

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a story which was originally without them; this is the episode of Duanta and akuntal (1.64 f.). Duanta chances upon the hermitage where akuntal lives. He sees Brahmins engaged in Vedic rites (1.64.16-17, 30, 38, 40) and hears the sound of Vedic recitation (20-22, 31). In spite of this, he then discovers that the hermitage is empty, and shouts: Who is here? (ka iha; 1.65.2). The preceding description of numerous men engaged in Vedic rites and recitation appears to be an addition to the story, for the Vedic element does not recur in it.168
168.

On the origin of the Epic akuntal story, see Insler, 1991, esp. p. 123 f.

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PART IV

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS

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Chapter 12. Concluding observations The preceding chapters have shown that early India knew ascetic practices in two different religious contexts. On the one hand there were the non-Vedic religious currents which encompassed, and gave rise to, Jainism and other ramaic beliefs and practices, and which shared a conviction in rebirth as a result of ones actions, and sought ways to stop this. On the other hand there was Vedic religion which, for reasons of its own, required ascetic restrictions in connection with the execution of the sacrifice. The non-Vedic search for liberation occasioned the presence of life-long ascetics and wanderers more or less as a matter of course. The Vedic restrictions, normally confined to the duration of a sacrifice, inspired some to make of them a way of life, and were in any case believed to lead the practitioner to the same aims as those which others tried to reach by performing sacrifices. This led to the existence, side by side, of essentially two different types of ascetics in ancient India, often called ramaas and Brahmins respectively. Both among the ramaas and among the Brahmins a further twofold distinction can be observed. Early sources, including Megasthenes, confirm these distinctions. The differences between the two main groups of ascetics were more than superficial; they concerned their aims, and consequently also their behaviour. No doubt aided by popular opinion, which could not always [93] distinguish between the two, both kinds of asceticism became more and more blurred, and characteristics of the one came to be ascribed to the other, and vice versa. The final result of this process is the classical doctrine of the four ramas, in which all distinctions have become blended, or rather added on to each other. If we had no other evidence than this classical doctrine to go by, the double origin of Indian asceticism would remain hidden from us.

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Which is the exact position of Buddhism within the scheme elaborated in the preceding pages? Buddhism plays virtually no role in the present book. Buddhist texts were used, to be sure, but only in order to obtain information about non-Buddhist ascetics, primarily Brahmins. Buddhism could be left out precisely because it plays practically no role in the developments here studied. It is of course clear that early Buddhism had links with non-Vedic asceticism. Indeed, the Buddha himself is frequently referred to as a ramaa. But early Buddhism distinguished itself clearly from the other forms of non-Vedic asceticism, and its aims and methods should not be confused with the latter. Some authors believe that what seem to be distinctive features of early Buddhism must be reinterpreted so as to agree better with what we know of the other religions of its day.169 This approach, which tells the texts what they should contain, rather than trying to find out what they actually have to say, must of course be discarded as unacceptable. It seems, then, that early Buddhism, in spite of the efforts of some [94] modern scholars to obfuscate this, was in fact markedly different from the other religious movements that existed in its day. It shared, to be sure, many of the ideas (rebirth determined by ones actions) and ideals (reaching freedom from rebirth) with the non-Vedic current which we have identified, yet appears to have introduced an altogether different method to reach this goal. Earliest Buddhism as we know it from the texts does not preach immobility of body and mind, nor does it search for the true, i.e. inactive, nature of the soul. It is true that Buddhism, which thus took a direction of its own, soon came to adopt certain practices which it had initially abandoned. And typically Buddhist practices found their way back into the non-Buddhist movements, thus contributing to
169.

See, e.g., Paul Muss (1935: I: *41) remark: Mais alors le bouddhisme initial se trouvant spar des superstitions populaires et des pratiques cultuelles les plus actives lpoque o il fut formul, et les acquisitions successives tant rputes htrognes, lhistoire de cette religion ne sera plus constitue que dexceptions et de renoncements. Mus offers, of course, a way pour chapper ces anomalies.

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the checkered image of asceticism in classical India. Since these developments and mutual influences have been studied elsewhere,170 they will not be discussed in further detail here. By way of conclusion it may be useful to emphasize once more that the description of Indian asceticism in its historical development presented in this book is, and can be, no more than a broad outline of this development. It would be a truism to add that the historical reality that hides behind the scheme presented was without a shadow of a doubt richer and more varied than this description may suggest. This does not, however, detract from whatever value it may have. Broad outlines have their use, and, if correct, can constitute major advances in our understanding. We all know that the earth is no sphere; yet the discovery that the earth is almost spherical was, in its time, a significant step ahead. Insisting that the shape of the earth is too complicated to describe cannot compare to it in informative value.
170.

See Bronkhorst, 1986. (Added in the 2nd edition:) See also the Preface to the second edition of that book, and Bronkhorst, 1995.

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Abbreviations AB AhS AN pDhS AV BAU BDhS ChU CPS DN GDhS J KU MBh MN MS PTS Pupph B SN Sn S Sy [113]vetUp T. h

Aitareya Brhmaa Ahirbudhnya Sahit Aguttara Nikya (PTS edition) pastamba Dharmastra, ed. Bhler Atharva Veda Bhadrayaka Upaniad Baudhyana Dharma Stra Chndogya Upaniad Catupariat Stra Dgha Nikya (PTS edition) Gautama Dharma Stra Jtaka (= Fausbll, 1877-1896) Kaha Upaniad Mahbhrata (crit. ed.) Majjhima Nikya (PTS edition) Mnava rauta Stra Pali Text Society Pupphiyo (= Deleu, 1966: 117-124) atapatha Brhmaa, Mdhyandina version Sayutta Nikya (PTS edition) Suttanipta (PTS edition) khyana rauta Stra Syagaagasutta vetvatara Upaniad Taish ed. of Buddhist Tripiaka in Chinese hagasutta

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Uvav VasDhS VDhS Vin Viy

Uvaviya (see Leumann, 1883) Vasiha Dharma Stra Vaikhnasa Dharma Stra Vinaya (PTS edition) Viyhapaattisutta