z:\ ambedkar\vol 011\vol11 04.indd MK SJ+YS 5 10 2013/YS 18 11 2013 306
306 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
- “No caste ; no inequality ; no superiority ; no inferiority ; all are equal. This is what he stood for.
III
- “Identify yourself with others. As they, so I. As I, so they,” so said the Buddha.
§ 2. Dhamma to be Saddhamma must Teach that Worth and not Birth is the Measure of Man
The theory of Chaturvarna, preached by the Brahmins, was based on birth.
One is a Brahmin because he is born of Brahmin parents. One is a Kshatriya because he is born of Kshatriya parents. One is a Vaishya because one is born of Vaishya parents. And one is a Shudra because one is born of Shudra parents.
The worth of a man according to the Brahmins was based on birth and on nothing else.
This theory was as repulsive to the Buddha as was the theory of Chaturvarna.
His doctrine was just the opposite of the doctrine of the Brahmins. It was his doctrine that worth and not birth was the measure of man.
The occasion on which the Buddha propounded his doctrine has its own peculiar interest.
Once the Blessed One was staying in Anathpindika’s Asram. One day in the forenoon he took his begging bowl and entered Shravasti for alms.
At that time a sacrificial fire was burning and an offering was prepared. Then the Blessed One, going for alms from house to house in Shravasti, approached the house of the Brahmin Aggika.
The Brahmin, seeing the Blessed One coming at a distance, became angry and said : “Stay there, O Shaveling ! There, stay, ye wretched monk ! Stay there, ye miserable outcast.”
When he spoke thus, the Blessed One addressed him as follows: “Do you know, O Brahmin, who an outcast is, or the things that make a person an outcast ?”