Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c12.s2.t1.2

c12.s2.t1.2

⁹ Kalpa 2 22 Cf a similar view expressed in the Nidānakathā (I, p 49) that the Buddhas are born in one or other of the two highest classes the Khattiya or the Brāhmaṇa castes and never in the low caste The Buddhist writers in enumeration of four castes invariably mention the Kṣatriyas before the Brāhmaṇas Cf also Vājasaneya saṃhitā (XXXVIII 19) and Kathaka (28 5) where Kṣatriyas are stated superior to the Brāhmaṇas (Majumdar, op cit, pp 367 369, Fick op cit, p 84 ff) For a controversy regarding the superiority of castes between Vasistha, a Brāhmaṇa and Viśvāmitra a Kṣatriya, see Dr. G. S, Ghurye, Caste and Race in India, p 63 f.