A History of Indian Literature v1.c8.s8.26

v1.c8.s8.26

¹ *Cf.* A. *Hillebrandt*, Aus Brahmanas und Upanisaden, pp. 10 ff., with whom I quite agree when he says that the philosophy of the Upaniṣads should be called neither a "Brahmanical" nor a "Kṣatriya philosophy." But it should not be doubted that non-Brahmans, especially Kṣatriyas, had a considerable share in the spiritual and intellectual life of ancient India. See P. *Deussen*, System des Vedanta, Leipzig, 1883, pp. 18 f., AGPh. I, 1, 166; I, 2, 17 ff.; R. *Garbe*, Beiträge zur indischen Kulturgeschichte, Berlin, 1903, pp. 1 ff.; R. *Fick*, The Social Organisation in North-East India in Buddha's Time, transl. by S. *Maitra*, Calcutta, 1920, pp. 90 ff. The view that the Kṣatriyas had an essential share in the development of the Upaniṣad ideas, has been contested by H. *Oldenberg*, Die Lehre der Upanishaden und die Anfänge des Buddhismus, Göttingen, 1915, pp. 166 f.; P. *Oltramare*, L'histoire des idées théosophiques dans l'Inde, 1, 96 f.; A. B. *Keith*, Aitareya Āraṇyaka, p. 50 and JRAS., 1915, p. 550; also by S. *Dasgupta*, A History of Indian Philosophy, I Cambridge, 1922, pp. 33 ff., though he admits (p. 31) "that among the Kṣatriyas in general there existed earnest philosophic enquiries which must be regarded as having exerted an important influence in the formation of the Upaniṣad doctrines." The fact is that the ancient Upaniṣads as literary compositions were arranged in the Brahmanic schools and were "Brahmanical" in this sense. But it does not follow from this, that all or even the most essential ideas contained in these texts were first conceived in priestly circles. It is worth mentioning that even the Āpastambīya-Dharmasūtra (II, 2, 4, 25) permits a Brahman to learn under a Kṣatriya or a Vaiśya teacher "in time of need" (āpadi).