316 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
How widespread had become this spirit of hatred and contempt against the followers of Buddha can be observed from the scenes depicted in Sanskrit dramas. The most striking illustration of this attitude towards the Buddhists is to be found in the Mricchakatika. In Act VII of that Drama the hero Charudatta and his friend Maitreya are shown waiting for Vasantasena in the park outside the city. She fails to turn up and Charudatta decides to leave the park. As they are leaving, they see the Buddhist monk by name Samvahaka. On seeing him, Charudatta says : “Friend Maitreya, I am anxious to meet Vasantsena ...
Come, let us go. (After walking a little) Ah ! here’s an inauspicious sight, a Buddhist monk coming towards us. (After a little reflection) well, let him come this way, we shall follow this other path. (Exit.)
In Act VIII, the monk is in the Park of Sakara, the King’s brotherin-law, washing his clothes in a pool. Sakara accompanied by Vita, turns up and threatens to kill the monk. The following conversation between them is revealing :
“Sakara- Stay, you wicked monk.
Monk- Ah! Here’s the king’s brother-in-law! Because some monk has offended him, he now beats up any monk he happens to meet.
Sakara- Stay, I will now break your head as one breaks a radish in a tavern. (Beats him).
Vita- Friend, it is not proper to beat a monk who has put on the saffron-robes, being disgusted with the world.
Monk- (Welcomes) Be pleased, lay brother.
Sakara- Friend, see. He is abusing me.
Vita- What does he say?
Sakara- He calls me lay brother (upasaka). Am I a barber?
Vita- Oh! He is really praising you as a devotee of the Buddha.
Sakara- Why has he come here?
Monk- To wash these clothes.
Sakara- Ah! you wicked monk. Even I myself do not bathe in this pool; I shall kill you with one stroke.”
After a lot of beating, the monk is allowed to go. Here is a Buddhist Monk in the midst of the Hindu crowd. He is shunned and avoided. The feeling of disgust against him is so great that the people even shun the road the monk is travelling. The feeling of repulsion is so intense that the entry of the Buddhist was enough to cause the exit of the Hindus. The Buddhist monk is on a par with the Brahmin. A Brahmin is immune from death-penalty. He is even free from corporal punishment But the Buddhist monk is beaten and assaulted