Śūdra-Muni Saṃvāda

In the Anuśāsana Parva of the Mahābhārata, Yudhishṭhira asks Bhīshma a question about teaching dharma to a person of low birth. Bhīshma answers with an account of a śūdra, a hermitage in the Himālaya, a muni who taught the śūdra a rite he was not allowed to learn, and what happened to both of them in their next births.

Yudhishṭhira’s question

Yudhishṭhira asks Bhīshma whether a rājarshi (royal seer) who gives upadeśa (instruction) to a person of nīca jāti (low birth) incurs a dosha (fault). He asks this about two cases: when the teaching is given out of friendship (mitratva), and when it is given for the sake of service received. He says that the path of dharma is very subtle, and that even the wise become deluded on it.

Bhīshma’s answer

Bhīshma says he will tell, in due order, what he once heard the ṛshis of an earlier age discuss among themselves on this very matter. Giving upadeśa to one of low jāti is a very grave fault. The śāstra itself says, “na śūdrāya matiṃ dadyāt”, which means one should not give understanding to a śūdra. A person who instructs such a one takes great dosha upon himself as the teacher.

The śūdra at the āśrama

At the foot of the Himālaya, in a region filled with the āśramas of brāhmaṇas, stood one especially sacred āśrama. It was rich with every kind of tree, thicket and creeper. Birds and beasts moved there, siddhas and cāraṇas attended it, and beautiful blossoms adorned it. Many brahmacārins and vānaprasthas lived there under their vows. So did brāhmaṇas whose tejas (radiance) matched the sun’s, ascetics bound by niyama and vrata, dīkshita sannyāsins who lived on regulated food, and many Vālakhilya munis. The sound of Vedic recitation was always heard in the āśrama.

A śūdra came to this āśrama. He was full of eagerness and he held the dīkshā (vow) of giving abhaya (freedom from fear) to all beings. The tapasvins and ṛshis there received him kindly. He saw the radiant munis, deva-like in bearing, keeping their various dīkshās. He was filled with joy and wished to practise tapas himself. He clasped the feet of the kulapati (head of the āśrama) and said:

“O best of dvijas, by your grace I wish to know dharma. I beg you to give me sannyāsa-dīkshā and to instruct me in dharma. O venerable one, best among sādhus, I am small by varṇa, born of śūdra jāti. I wish to stay here and serve the tapasvins. Be gracious to me, for I have taken refuge in you.”

The kulapati replied: “In this āśrama there is no place for a śūdra to take sannyāsa. If you wish to stay, you may stay and serve. There is no doubt that even service to the munis here leads to excellent lokas.”

The śūdra’s own tapas

The śūdra thought about this. He had no adhikāra (right) to the outward liṅga (mark) of sannyāsa, but everyone has adhikāra for tyāga (renunciation) in spirit. So he built his own parṇaśāla (leaf-hut) at a distance from the āśrama and set up a vedikā (altar) for yajña. He took up niyama. He bathed three times a day, offered pūjā in the temples, made āhutis (offerings) into the agni, and honoured the devatās. He held back his saṅkalpa (desires) through citta-vṛtti-nirodha (stilling the movements of the mind) and ate only fruit. He won mastery over the senses (indriya-vijaya). Whatever guests came to him each day, he honoured with the fruit and food he had. In this way he passed a long time.

The muni’s teaching

One day a muni came to his āśrama, seeking satsaṅga (good company). The śūdra welcomed him with due honour, made him comfortable according to custom, and asked with courteous words why he had come. After that, this muni, who was a dharmātmā and faithful to his vows, began to visit the śūdra’s āśrama regularly.

On one of these visits the śūdra told the muni that he wished to perform the śrāddha for his pitṛs (forefathers) and asked for the muni’s grace. The muni agreed. The śūdra purified himself and brought pādya (water for the feet), darbha grass, food grown in the forest, the pavitra (ring of purifying grass), and an āsana (seat). The seat was a kūrca, woven from the hair on the head of a camarī deer, and called a bṛsi. He led the muni towards the south and spread the kūrca with its tips pointing west as a seat for the brāhmaṇa. This was against the śāstra.

The muni saw this wrong act and corrected him: “Make this seat prāgagra, with its tips pointing east. Be pure, and face north (udaṅmukha).”

The śūdra did exactly as he was told. The wise śūdra laid the darbha, offered the arghya and pādya, and carried out the whole havya-kavya-karma-vidhi (the rules for offerings to the devas and the pitṛs) just as the muni directed. So the rite for the pitṛs was finished by the correct vidhi, under the ṛshi’s instruction. When it was done, the muni took his leave and went away. The śūdra stayed established in the path of dharma.

Two births and a meeting again

After a long time the śūdra, who had practised tapas all his life, died. By the power of that puṇya (merit) he was born, with great tejas, into the family of a mahārāja. In time the muni also underwent kāla-dharma (death) and was born into a purohita’s family. So the śūdra and the muni came together again in their new births. Both grew up and became skilled in every branch of learning. The one born into the purohita’s family became learned in the Atharva Veda and the other Vedas. He mastered kalpa-prayoga (ritual procedure) and jyotisha (the science of the stars), and he came to love Sāṅkhya śāstra as well.

When the old king, the father, passed away and the time of mṛta-śauca (impurity after a death) had ended, the king’s son was purified and crowned king by his ministers and the people. The new king then made that same ṛshi his purohita. He ruled his people in dharma and lived happily.

The king’s laughter and the secret

Whenever the purohita performed puṇyāha-vacana or other dharma acts and śānti-homas (rites for peace), the king watched him. Sometimes the king smiled faintly, and sometimes he laughed aloud. The purohita noticed that the king kept laughing at him, and he grew angry. One day he met the king alone, spoke pleasantly to win his favour, and said: “O greatly powerful one, if you are willing, I wish to ask for a vara (a boon).”

The king replied: “O best of brāhmaṇas, I shall give you not one vara but a hundred. Out of my affection and regard for you, there is nothing I would not give you.”

The purohita said: “O king, if you are pleased, I ask for only one vara. Vow to me that you will speak the truth.”

Bhīshma says the king agreed on the condition that belongs to such a vow: “If I know it, I shall certainly tell you. If I do not know it, I cannot.”

The purohita then asked: “Why do you laugh at me during the daily puṇyāha-vacana and the other dharma acts and śānti-homas? When you laugh like that, my mind feels shame. I have made you take a vow, so you must not now speak falsely. There must be a clear cause, for your laughter cannot be without reason. I am overcome with curiosity to know it. Tell me the truth.”

The king answered: “O best of brāhmaṇas, it is hard to tell, but since you have asked, I must tell you. Listen carefully. Know the account of my former birth. I have smṛti (memory) of my past life. O sinless one, best of brāhmaṇas, in my former birth I was a śūdra, yet I became a great tapasvin. You, at that time, were a ṛshi engaged in fierce tapas. Out of your great affection for me, wishing to bless me, you taught me the śāstra-vidhi for the rite for the pitṛs. You instructed me, best of ṛshis, in the vidhi of laying darbha for the āsana in that rite. Because of the dosha of that act, you have been born in this life as a purohita.”

The teaching

Bhīshma ends with the main teaching of the chapter. Even people who follow dharma and are full of satya (truthfulness) and ārjava (rectitude) come to durgati (a lower state) if they say words that go against the śāstra. For this reason a brāhmaṇa should never give upadeśa to anyone who has no adhikāra to receive it. If he does, the teacher must take on himself the pāpa (sin) of his pupil.

Those who desire dharma and are learned should speak only after the most careful thought. An upadeśa given like a trade (vāṇijya), that is, out of lobha (greed for gain), does still greater harm. Whatever is asked of him, and by whomever, the wise person should answer only after due thought. He should teach only that śāstra-siddhānta (settled teaching) which itself brings about dharma. To a person with no adhikāra to receive it, instruction should never be given, because harm follows. Therefore it should not be given.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 10