Buddha: His Life, his Doctrine, his Order c8.s1.t2.9

c8.s1.t2.9

While it is true that Buddhism does not reserve to Brahmans only the right of entry into a spiritual life, we must not fall into the error of supposing that Buddha was the first to stand up for this cause and do battle for it. Before his time, probably long before his time, there were religious orders, which received members of all castes, both males and females.* Side by side with the first exclusive religious order of ancient times, the Brahmans, there existed long ere this period, equal to the Brahmans in public estimation, the second religious order of the Samanâ, *i.e.*, ascetics, admission to whose ranks was open to every one who was resolved to renounce a worldly career, whether he was high born or low born. This fact is recognized in the Buddhist traditions as indisputable, as something of which there is no recollection that it had ever been otherwise. There is no need of overrating the value of these traditions, to find in them a guarantee that Buddha did not deem it necessary to undertake a struggle against the leaders of society and thought in behalf of the spiritual rights of the poor and humble: and least of all is it possible that in such a struggle lay the essential character of his life.