62 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
justice and the promise of instruction from the virtuous in the event of his going astray. “Then ascending his chariot glorious as the resplendent Sun, he exclaimed in the intoxication of his prowess, ‘Who is like me in fortitude, courage, fame, herosim, energy, and vigour?’ At the end of this speech a bodyless voice in the sky addressed him: ‘Thou knowest not, O fool, that a Brahman is better than Kshatriya. It is with the help of the Brahman that the Kshatriya rules his subjects.’ Arjuna answers: ‘If I am pleased, I can create, or, if displeased, annihilate living beings; and no Brahman is superior to me in act, thought or word. The first proposition is that the Brahmins are superior; the second that the Kshatriyas are superior; both of these thou hast stated with their grounds, but there is a difference between them (in point of force). The Brahmins are dependent on the Kshatriyas and not the Kshatriyas on the Brahmins, who wait upon them, and only make the Vedas a pretence. Justice, the protection of the people, has its seat in the Kshatriyas. From them the Brahmins derive their livelihood; how then can the latter be superior? I always keep in subjection myself those Brahmins, the chief of all beings, who subsist on alms and who have a high opinion of themselves. For truth was spoken by that female the Gayatri in the sky. I shall subdue alt those unruly Brahmins clad in hides. No one in the three worlds, god or man, can hurl me from my royal authority; therefore I am superior to any Brahman. Now shall I turn the world in which Brahmins have the upper hand into a place where Kshatriyas shall have the uper hand; for no one dares to encounter my force in battle.’ Hearing this speech of Arjun, the female roving in the night became alarmed. Then Vayu hovering in the air, said to Arjuna: ‘Abandon this sinful disposition, and do obeisance to the Brahmins. If thou shall do them wrong, thy kingdom shall be convulsed. They will subdue thee; those powerful men will humble thee, and expel thee from thy country.’ The King asks him, ‘Who art thou?’ Vayu replies, ‘I am Vayu, the messenger of the Gods, and tell thee what is for thy benefit.’ Arjuna rejoins, ‘Oh, thou displayest today a great warmth of devotion to the Brahmins. But say that a Brahman is like (any other) earth-horn creature.”
This king came into conflict with Parsuram the son of a Brahman sage Jamadagni. The history of this conflict is as follows:—
There lived a king of Kanyakubja, called Gadhi, who had a daughter named Satyavati. The marriage of this princess to the rishi Richika, and the birth of Jamadagni, are then told in nearly the same way as above narrated. Jamadagni and Satyavati had five sons, the youngest of whom was the redoubtable Parasuram. By his father’s command he