Thread by @Aabhas24

1/n #SadarPranam to Ishvara within you @Profdilipmandal ji.

I'm sorry to disappoint you but the Buddhist literature clearly shows that Buddha's stand on Varna & Jati is grey, not as you may like it to be.

Detailed info in this thread. You may respond should you have substance.

https://twitter.com/Profdilipmandal/status/1586215654884925442

2/n Although in the Madhura Sutta of the Majjhima (II 85), Buddha is claimed to be saying that all four varnas are equal (ime cattaro varna samasama
honti), & in the Assalayana Sutta of the Majjhima (II
149), Madhura Sutta, Majjhima (II 87), he refutes higher Varna superiority

3/n —but on metaphysical stand Buddha mentions that:
"after death,they shall be reborn in accordance with
their karmas and not in accordance with their varna: 'a
man who is a murderer or a thief or a fornicator, or a liar, or a slanderer, or of violent speech or tattles or covets

4/n or is malevolent or holds wrong views, he will, after death at body's dissolution pass to the state of misery and woe, whether he be a Brahmin, a Kshatriya, a Vaishya or a Shudra."

5/n That's precisely the thought of Jati is @Profdilipmandal . So Buddha didn't actually condemn Jati by Karma of past birth.

Even though he specified that a Manushya Jati is all we belong to but by accepting next birth on karma of this birth, he said no different.

6/n Substantiating this point, @Profdilipmandal , the Jataka no: 498, talks of the origin of "Chandals" to past Karma, and cites it to be lowest born being the meanest of men.

"sakehi kammehi supapekhi chandala gabbhe
avasimha pubbe."

7/n Translation: "When all our deeds were ripe as guerdon meet, we both as young chandals had our birth"

Now here is show you the hypocrisy of Sutta writers who uttered a lots of contradictory points in name of Buddha (of course, all texts were written long after his demise)

8/n Let's take the example of the purity of varna blood.

In Assalayana Sutta of the Majjhima (II 154), Buddha is claimed to be explaining that all varnas (or Jati/ not very clear) are of equal purity.

He says," catu vannim suddhim paccagato."

9/n But going against this very saying, Buddha is made to question Brahmans for their purity of blood polemically.
He says: "jananti pana (...) ya janimatu mata yava sattama mata mahayuga brahmanam yeva agamasi no abrahmana."

10/n Translation:
""Do you know for certain that your mother's mother & your grandmother for seven generations had intercourse with brahmanas only and never with non-brahmanas?"

He repeats the same thing for the father's side (sattamapita mahayuga).

11/n It clearly means that many writers of Buddhist Literature were ready to become hypocritical too at times to show polemics against the Brahmins.

Blame lies at hands of writers, not Buddha for none know what exactly he said given there are so many contradictions.

12/n It is interesting @Profdilipmandal that in the Ambaitha Sutta of Dighanikdya III, the Buddha is shown to recognizing the caste-superiority of kshatriyas over Brahmans.

13/n Buddha is shown to be admitting the reason as:

"the Kshatriyas don't admit a child born of an anuloma, or pratiloma marriage into their caste, even though the mother or father might be a Kshatriya and the other a Brahman."

14/n Anuloma: A higher caste male marrying a lower caste female

Pratiloma: A higher caste female marrying a lower caste male

15/n So @Profdilipmandal , here Buddha is shown to be admitting Kshatriya as superior, for not allowing marriage in lower caste though earlier he is shown frowning against Brahmins for similar sort of reasons.

16/n According to Buddha as mentioned by Sutta writers, child born of such marriage would become a Brahmin by caste.

Buddha is shown to be concluding that when one compares women with women or men with men, the Kshatriyas are superior to the Brahmins, who are lower (hina).

17/n Here Buddha is shown to say,

“khattiyo parama nihinatam patto hoti,

khattiyo va settha hino brahmano”

Which means:

“even when a Kshatriya is fallen in the deepest degradation the Kshatriya is superior, Brahman inferior.”

18/n In the very sutta, Buddha is shown to claiming the superiority of Kshatriya.

The Satapatha
Brahmana (XIV 4.2.23), Brhaddranyaka Upanishad (I 4.11), Chandogya Upanishad (5.3.7) talks of superiority of Kshatriya too but it will make @Profdilipmandal frown.

19/n Even though in eyes of @Profdilipmandal these are Brahmanical texts.

Of yes, these were works of Brahmins but they superiority of Kshatriyas even though case is opposite in Buddhist texts.

20/n Here is a nuanced case which @Profdilipmandal might not get.

In Essukari Sutta Buddha says as below:

21/n "I assert that uccakulina, (high class family) doesn't enter into a man's being either good or bad, nor do good looks or wealth, for you will find a man of noble birth who is a murderer, a thief, a fornicator; therefore I assert that noble birth doesn't make a good man."

22/n Reading this @Profdilipmandal would say that Buddha is rejecting caste system, but the truth is that while he is reconsigning Jati by birth and even it being low and high, he is show rejecting that man would become good based on conduct and not by Jati.

23/n Not only this, as per the Kalpasutra (17-18), a tirthankara is born only in a high family, a royal and noble family belonging to the race of Ikshavakus or Hari.

& no Shudra, or Brahmin or Vaishya can be Tirthankara @Profdilipmandal . Too much casteism in Buddhism.