The Social Organisation in North-East India in Buddha's Time c8.57

c8.57

Even among Buddhist monks we find this conception of the distinction of castes, of the value of high birth, in no way extinguished. As evidence of this, we have the introduction to the Tittira Jâtaka (I. 217 sq.), where it is said that the disciples of the six¹ (chabbaggikâ) requisitioned all places for themselves and their teachers, so that the wisest men who came later got no quarters. When Buddha became aware of this, he called an assembly of monks and put the question, Who deserves to have the best quarters, the best water, the best food? He received from some the reply, "He who was a Khattiya before he became initiated" (khattiya kulâ pabbajito); from others, "He who was a Brâhmaṇa or a gahapati (brâhmaṇakulâ gahapatikulâ pabbajito). Here the three classes looked upon by the Indians are narrated in their order of succession and even though Buddha himself in summing up the debate recognises no privilege grounded on birth, the narrative still shows that in the consciousness of the great majority of the monks the caste distinctions had value. The action of Devadatta² and Kokila mentioned in the introduction to Jambukhâdaka Jâtaka (II. 438) is also evidence of the respect which people had for the higher castes—the action, namely, of their trying to revive their lost reputation.