[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [The Social Organisation in North-East India in Buddha's Time](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.fick-1897) › c8.9 # The Social Organisation in North-East India in Buddha's Time c8.9 The Social Organisation in North-East India in Buddha's Time c8.9 - **Language:** English ### [c8.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.fick-1897.c8.9) The same subject is also handled in the Madhura Sutta² (No. 84 of the Majjhima Nikâya) and to some extent the same words are used. The king Madhura Avantiputta betakes himself to Samaṇa Kaccâna and puts to him the question: “The Brâhmaṇas, Kaccâna, maintain that the Brâhmaṇa is the best caste and every other caste is low, that the Brâhmaṇa is the white caste and every other caste is black, that the Brâhmaṇas are pure and not the non-Brâhmaṇas, that the Brâhmaṇas are the favourite sons of Brahma, that they are born out of his mouth, born of Brahma, successors of Brahma. What do you say to this, Kaccâna?” And Kaccâna replies that caste neither assures material success in life nor makes any difference with regard to the punishment or happiness that awaits after death, that it does not protect wrong-doers from the punishment prescribed by law and that above all, for the homeless ascetics it is a matter of indifference. But here, too, the argument rests upon the four castes and the result is, not that these four castes do not exist but only that they are all the same. The thought that a Brâhmaṇa does not occupy a special place by reason of his birth but that virtue alone constitutes a true Brâhmaṇa, recurs also in the Jâtakas; in many ways the theme of the worthlessness of the castes is varied and an opportunity given to the narrator for lengthy discussions on the caste. Especially, the Uddâlaka Jâtaka deals in a most penetrating way with the caste question. "A long time ago, when Brahmadatta ruled in Benares, the Bodhisatta¹ was appointed his house priest, on account of his scholarship and intelligence. The latter saw one day in a pleasant spot in the park an extremely beautiful courtesan and fell in love with her. She became pregnant (with his child) and when she recognised her condition, she said to him, "O Lord, I have received a live fruit; when it is born I will give the child the name of its grandfather." He reflected, “A child which is born of a low woman cannot possibly be given the family name” and said to her, “My love, this tree here is called Uddâla; because you have got your child here, you may call it Uddâlaka”. Then he gave her a signet ring and continued, “If you get a daughter, bring her up with this, if you get a son, you can show him to me after he is grown up”. She gave birth some time later to a son and named him Uddâlaka. When this son grew up, he asked his mother, “Dear mother, who is my father?” “The \*purohita\*, my son.” “If that is the case, I will study the Vedas”. With this resolution, he took the ring and the honorarium for his teacher from his mother and went to Takkasilâ and read there with a world-renowned teacher. At the sight of a crowd of ascetics, the thought occurred to him, “These must be in possession of the highest knowledge, I must learn it from them”; full of desire for knowledge, he adopted the homeless state, rendered all manner of service to the ascetics and prayed that they might teach him their wisdom. They taught him according to the measure of their wisdom, but among the five hundred ascetics there was not a single one who excelled him in intelligence; he was the wisest among them all. Therefore they agreed and made him their chief. - [Previous: c8.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.fick-1897.c8.8) - [Next: c8.10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.fick-1897.c8.10) - [Up: c8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.fick-1897.c8) ## Linked texts (2) - [Jātaka](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.khuddaka.jataka.487) — Pāli - [Majjhimanikāya](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.majjhima) — Pāli --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.fick-1897.c8.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.fick-1897.c8.9) · Pramāṇa