Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c22.11

c22.11

¹ A complete list of persons disqualified on the ground of bodily defects and deformities is given in the Mahāvagga, i, 71. The principle of this disqualification does not seem to be a very commendable one. It was simply a concession to the tastes and susceptibilities of the lay public, to a doubtful sense of decency that would not look with a kindly eye upon the dwarf or the hump-back, upon the lame, the deaf and the dumb, or even the man afflicted with elephantiasis. A sound body was no doubt to be desired, but it was easy to desire it too much. At least the persons afflicted from birth by Nature deserve better treatment than those punished by man. In the list a cripple is on a par with a "proclaimed robber". The weakness of Buddhism, and, indeed, of all proselytizing religions in the early stages of their career is this undue panting after popularity, and even pandering to low and vulgar tastes instead of ignoring and educating them. There might be much native moral excellence behind physical disabilities that would repay proper treatment. The eagerness of early Buddhism to secure aristocratic and opulent adherents has been already noticed as another weakness.