Vasudevahindi (cultural history)
by A. P. Jamkhedkar | 1965 | 134,331 words
This essay is an English study of the Vasudevahindi reflecting cultural history and traditions of the life of people in ancient and medieval India during the 6th century. The Vasudevahindi is a romantic and religious tale divided into two parts. The first part is attributed to Sanghadasa (6th century A.D.) and explores the wanderings of Dhammilla a...
4. Caste description of Ksatriyas
Valour was the distinguishing feature of the 2 Ksatriya class as referred to in the Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa This feature qualified them in the work of protecting the people from any dangers. They are also called Rajanyas and the king was one from amongst them3. The Kshatriyas were no less competent than the Brahmanas in spiritual matters. All the twenty-four saviours of Jainism who showed the path of liberation to the world, were all born in the families of Ksatriyas, amongst whom are two illustrious clans: Ikkhaga and Hari. An example from the Vasudevahindi(F) is very significant, King Haricamda appoints a scion of a khattiya family 1. Ibid. 3. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 162. 2. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 119.
159 (khattiyakumara) to advise him in religious matters1. Some scholars attach importance to the revolt against the sacrificial religion of the Brahmana-period, especially in the form of Jainism and Buddhism headed by two Kshatriya princes, viz., Mahavira and the Buddha. One sees a reflection of the same Brahmana-Ksatriya rivalry in the version of the Parasurama legend as it appears in the Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa 2. According to the legend, Parasurama, through towards the hatred against Ksatriyas who were responsible for the SS assasination of his father, liquidates all of them, with some exceptions, twenty-one times. In revenge of the same act, Cakkavatti Subhoma, posthumous son of king Kattaviriya kills all the brahmins, twenty-one times, except those who did not claim themselves to be Brahmanas It is to be noted that the latter part of the above legend describing the exploits of Subhoma is an innovation of the author of Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa The Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa does not offer any new information about the ksatriyas. 1. Ibid., 170. 2. Ibid., 238-40. 3. Later on, after their death, both Parasurama and Subhoma are said to have been born in the hell. Does the author of (Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa want to suggest indirectly that killing brahmins OU of Khattiyas in persecution ultimately results in a vile birth.