Studies in the Origins of Buddhism c8.45

c8.45

DN. 4 speaks only of the “Lokāyatamahāpurisalak-khaṇas” while there is no reference to the number 32. The next sutta is in this respect similar. Unlike the preceding too, however, it is directed not against caste but against sacrifice, and it achieves its purpose not through disputation but through offering a figurative and ethical reinterpretation of the idea of sacrifice, taking the aid of a Jātaka-like tale in doing so.