Unscrupulous Upanishadic sage agrees to impart his wisdom to a Sudra in exchange of material wealth and a woman

by Guest Sat Apr 30, 2016 4:36 pm

what follows is from the Chandogya Upanishad chapters 4.1 and 4.2. The text is complete as per the translation; i have not added or deleted anything. and i am giving the online references to the extract below. scroll down to see the words 'sudra' which i have highlighted in bold:

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1. There lived once upon a time Gânasruti Pautrâyana (the great-grandson of Ganasruta), who was a pious giver, bestowing much wealth upon the people, and always keeping open house. He built places of refuge everywhere, wishing that people should everywhere eat of his food.

2. Once in the night some Hamsas (flamingoes) flew over his house, and one flamingo said to another: 'Hey, Bhallâksha, Bhallâksha (short-sighted friend). The light (glory) of Gânasruti Pautrâyana has spread like the sky. Do not go near, that it may not burn thee.'

3. The other answered him: 'How can you speak of him, being what he is (a râganya, noble), as if he were like Raikva with the car 1?'

4. The first replied: 'How is it with this Raikva with the car of whom thou speakest?'

The other answered: 'As (in a game of dice) all the lower casts 2 belong to him who has conquered with the Krita cast, so whatever good deeds other people perform, belong to that Raikva. He who knows what he knows, he is thus spoken of by me.'

5. Gânasruti Pautrâyana overheard this conversation, and as soon as he had risen in the morning, he said to his. door-keeper (kshattri): 'Friend, dost thou speak of (me, as if I were) Raikva with the car?'

He replied: 'How is it with this Raikva, with the car?'

6. The king said: 'As (in a game of dice), all the lower casts belong to him who has conquered with the Krita cast, so whatever good deeds other people perform, belong to that Raikva. He who knows what he knows, he is thus spoken of by me.'

7. The door-keeper went to look for Raikva, but returned saying, 'I found him not.' Then the king said: 'Alas! where a Brâhmana should be searched for (in the solitude of the forest), there go for him.'

8. The door-keeper came to a man who was lying beneath a car and scratching his sores 1. He addressed him, and said: 'Sir, are you Raikva with the car? '

He answered: 'Here I am.'

Then the door-keeper returned, and said: 'I have found him.'

[above taken from: http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe01/sbe01078.htm]

1. Then Gânasruti Pautrâyana took six hundred cows, a necklace, and a carriage with mules, went to Raikva and said:

2. 'Raikva, here are six hundred cows, a necklace, and a carriage with mules; teach me the deity which you worship.'

3. The other replied: 'Fie, necklace and carriage be thine, O Sûdra, together with the cows.'

Then Gânasruti Pautrâyana took again a thousand cows, a necklace, a carriage with mules, and his own daughter, and went to him.

4. He said to him: 'Raikva, there are a thousand cows, a necklace, a carriage with mules, this wife, and this village in which thou dwellest. Sir, teach me!'

5. He, opening her mouth 2, said: 'You have brought these (cows and other presents), O Sûdra, but only by that mouth did you make me speak.'

[above taken from: http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe01/sbe01079.htm]

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Note: by 'only by that mouth did you make me speak' my interpretation is that the sage Raikva is referring to the mouth of the woman Ganasruti is presenting to him. According to the text, this woman is Ganasruti's own daughter.

by Guest Sat Apr 30, 2016 4:51 pm

giving the links again:

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe01/sbe01078.htm

and

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe01/sbe01079.htm

by Guest Sat Apr 30, 2016 4:58 pm

According to Adi Sankara, the word 'sudra' in this passage should not be taken literally since it is used figuratively in this Upanishadic passage. Explains Adi Sankara (Sankara on Brahma Sutra i.3.34):

The word sudra can moreover be made to agree with the context in which it occurs in the following manner. When Janasruti Pautrayana heard himself spoken of with disrespect by the flamingo, grief (suc) arose in his mind, and to that grief the risi Raikva alludes with the word sudra, in order to show thereby his knowledge of what is remote. This explaination must be accepted, because a [real] born sudra is not qualified [for the philosophical wisdom]. If it be asked, how the grief (suc) which had arisen in Janasruti's mind can be referred to by means of the word sudra, we reply:
'On account of the rushing on (adravana) of the grief. For we may etymologise the word sudra by dividing it into its parts, either as 'he rushed into grief' (sucam abhidurava) or as 'grief rushed on him' or as 'he in grief rushed to Raikva'; while on the other hand it is impossible to accept the word in its ordinary conventional sense.

However, Sankara has no comment to offer on the gratuitous display of greed and avarice displayed by the Upanishadic sage Raikva.

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Unscrupulous Upanishadic sage agrees to impart his wisdom to a Sudra in exchange of material wealth and a woman

Unscrupulous Upanishadic sage agrees to impart his wisdom to a Sudra in exchange of material wealth and a woman

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