z:\ ambedkar\vol 011\vol11 02.indd MK SJ+YS 4 10 2013/YS 18 11 2013 11
FROM BIRTH TO PARIVRAJA
11
friends used to say : “Are you afraid of tigers ?” He used to retort by saying, “I know you are not going to kill tigers, you are going to kill harmless animals such as deer and rabbits.”
“If not for hunting, come to witness how accurate is the aim of your friends,” they said. Even such invitations Siddharth refused, saying ; “I do not like to see the killing of innocent animals.”
Prajapati Gautami was deeply worried over this attitude of Siddharth.
She used to argue with him saying : “You have forgotten that you are a Kshatriya and fighting is your duty. The art of fighting can be learned only through hunting for only by hunting can you learn how to aim accurately. Hunting is a training ground for the warrior class.”
Siddharth often used to ask Gautami : “But, mother, why should a Kshatriya fight? And Gautami used to reply : “Because it is his duty.”
Siddharth was never satisfied by her answer. He used to ask Gautami : “Tell me, how can it be the duty of man to kill man?” Gautami argued, “Such an attitude is good for an ascetic. But Kshatriyas must fight. If they don’t, who will protect the kingdom ?”
“But mother ! If all Kshatriyas loved one another, would they not be able to protect their kingdom without resort to killing?” Gautami had to leave him to his own opinion.
He tried to induce his companions to join him in practising meditation. He taught them the proper pose. He taught them to fix their mind on a subject. He advised them to select such thoughts as “May I be happy, may my relations be happy, may all living animals be happy.”
But his friends did not take the matter seriously. They laughed at him.
On closing their eyes they could not concentrate on their subject of meditation. Instead, some saw before their eyes deer for shooting or sweets for eating.
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