z:\ ambedkar\vol 011\vol11 07.indd MK SJ+YS 5 10 2013/YS 18 11 2013 488
488 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
VI
13 “To the reverend Gotama I come for refuge and to his Doctrine and to his community. Be it mine to receive admission and confirmation at the hands of the Lord!” So the Brahmin Kasi-Bharadvaja was admitted and confirmed as an almsman of the Lord.
§ 3. Charge of Breaking Happy Households
Seeing that many distinguished young Magadha noblemen had become the disciples of the Blessed One, people became annoyed and angry, saying: “ The Samana Gautama causes parents to be childless; the Samana Gautama causes wives to become widows; the Samana Gautama causes the uprooting of families.
“ Now he has ordained one thousand Jatilas, and he has ordained these two hundred and fifty wandering ascetics who were followers of Sanjaya, and these many distinguished young Magadha clansmen are now leading a holy life under the Samana Gautama. What will happen next ? No one can say!”
And, moreover, when they saw the monks they chide them in the following terms: “ The great Samana has come to Giribhaja (i.e., Ragagaha) of the Magadha people, leading with him all the followers of Sanjaya ; who will be the next to be led by him ?”
The monks heard this accusation and they reported it to the Blessed One.
The Blessed One replied: “This noise, monks, will not last long; it will last only seven days; after seven days it will be over.
“And if they chide you, monks, you should reply that it is truly by a good Dhamma that the great heroes, the Tathagatas, lead. Who will murmur at the wise, why grudge the wise leading men righteously? There is no compulsion in my Dhamma. One is free to leave home. One is free to remain attached to his home.”
When the Bhikkhus replied to the revilers as the Blessed One had directed, then the people under