Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi there were five hundred brahmans from various countries in the city. ....and they thought: "This ascetic Gautam preaches that all four classes are pure. Who can refute him?" At that time there was a young brahman named Assalayana in the city ....a youth of sixteen, thoroughly versed in the Vedas ....and in all brahmanic learning. "He can do it!", thought the Brahmanas, and so they asked him to try; but he answered, "The ascetic Gautam teaches a doctrine of his own, and such teachers are hard to refute. I can't do it!" They asked him a second time ....and again he refused; and they asked him a third time, pointing out that he ought not to admit defeat without giving battle. This time he agreed, and so, surrounded by a crowd of brahmans, he went to the Lord, and after greeting him, sat down and said: "Brahmans maintain that they are the highest class, and the others are below them. They are white, the others black; only they are pure, and not the others. Only they are the true sons of Brahma, born from his mouth, born of Brahma, creations of Brahma, heirs of Brahma. Now what does the worthy Gautam say to that?"

"Do the brahmans really maintain this, Assalayana, when they are born of women just like anyone else, of brahman women who have their periods and conceive, give birth and nurse their children, just like any other women?"

"For all you say, this is what they think. ...."

"Have you ever heard that in the lands of the Greeks and Kambojas and other peoples on the borders there are only two classes, masters and slaves, and a master can become a slave and vice versa?"

"Yes I have heard so."

"And what strength or support does that fact give to the brahmans' claim?"

"Nevertheless, that is what they think."

"Again if a man is a murderer, a thief, or an adulterer, or commits other grave sins, when his body breaks up on death does he pass on to purgatory if he is a kshatriya, vaishya, or shudra, but not if he is a brahman?"

"No, Gautam. In such a case the same fate is in store for all men, whatever their class."

"And if he avoids grave sin, will he go to heaven if he is a brahman, but not if he is a man of the lower classes?"

"No, Gautam. In such a case the same reward awaits all men, whatever their class."

"And is a brahman capable of developing a mind of love without hate or ill-will, but not a man of other classes?"

"No, Gautam. All four classes are capable of doing so."

"Can only a brahman go down to a river and wash away dust and dirt, and not men of the other classes?"

"No, Gautam, all four classes can."

"Now suppose a king were to gather together a hundred men of different classes and to order the brahmans and kshatriyas to take kindling wood of sal, pine, lotus or sandal, and light fires, while the low class folk did the same with common wood. What do you think would happen? Would the fires of the high-born men blaze up brightly ....and those of the humble fail?"

"No, Gautam. It would be alike with high and lowly. ....Every fire would blaze with the same bright flame."

"Suppose there are two young brahman brothers, one a scholar and the other uneducated. Which of them would be served first at memorial feasts, festivals, and sacrifices, or when entertained as guests?"

"The scholar, of course; for what great benefit would accrue from entertaining the uneducated one?"

"But suppose the scholar is ill-behaved and wicked, while the uneducated one is well-behaved and virtuous?"

"Then the uneducated one would be served first, for what great benefit would accrue from entertaining an ill-behaved and wicked man?"

"First, Assalayana, you based your claim on birth, then you gave up birth for learning, and finally you have come round to my way of thinking, that all four classes are equally pure!"

At this Assalayana sat silent ....his shoulders hunched, his eyes cast down, thoughtful in mind, and with no answer at hand.

FROM: MAJJHIMA NIKAYA. SOURCE: AS MENTIONED ABOVE.

Photo: treknature.com

 

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