Ambedkar-Philosophy of Hinduism

AMBEDKAR'S PHILOSOPHY OF HINDUISM AND CONTEMPORARY CRITIQUES
PROF. M. M. NINAN
The Gods, rishis, etc., then addressed Brahma. "The great muni Vishvamitra has been allured and provoked
in various ways, but still advances in his sanctity. If his wish is not conceded, he will destroy the three worlds by
the force of his austerity. All the regions of the universe are confounded, no light anywhere shines; all the
oceans are tossed, and the mountains crumble, the earth quakes, and the wind blows confusedly. We cannot,
0 Brahma, guarantee that mankind shall not become atheistic..... Before the great and glorious sage of fiery
form resolves to destroy (everything) let him be propitiated. "The Gods, headed by Brahma, then addressed
Vishvamitra : 'Hail, Brahman rishi, we are gratified by the austerity ; O Kausika, thou hast, through their
intensity, attained to Brahmahood. O Brahman, associated with the Maruts, confers on thee long life. May every
blessing attend thee ; depart where ever thou wilt.' The sage, delighted, made his obeisance to the Gods, and
said: ' If I have obtained Brahmahood, and long life, then let the mystic monosyllable (ornkara) and the
sacrificial formula (vashatkara) and the Vedas recognise me in that capacity. And let Vashishtha, the son of
Brahmin, the most eminent of those who are skilled in the Kshatra-Veda, and the Brahma-Veda (the knowledge
of the Kshatriya and the Brahmnical disciplines), address me similarly '..... Accordingly Vashishtha, being
propitiated by the Gods, became reconciled to Vishvamitra, and recognised his claim to all the prerogatives of a
Brahman rishi. .... Vishvamitra, too having attained the Brahmanical rank, paid all honour to Vashishtha".
The second event has a reference to the slaughter of the Brahmins by the Kshatriyas. It is related in the
Adiparva of the Mahabharat from which the following account is taken :—
"There was a King named Kritrvirya, by whose liberality the Bhrigus, learned in the Vedas, who
officiated as his priests, had been greatly enriched with corn and money. After he had gone to heaven,
his descendants were in want of money, and came to beg for a supply from the Bhrigus, of whose
wealth they were aware. Some of the latter hid their money under ground, others bestowed it on
Brahmins, being afraid of the Kshatriyas, while others again gave these last what they wanted. It
happened, however, that a Kshatriya, while digging the ground, discovered some money buried in the
house of Bhrigu. The Kshatriyas then assembled and saw this treasure, and, being incensed, slew in
consequence all the Bhrigus, who they regarded with contempt, down to the children in the womb. The
widows, however, fled to the Himalaya mountains. One of them concealed her unborn child in her
thigh. The Kshatriya, hearing of its existence from a Brahmani informant, sought to kill it ; but it issued
forth from its mother's thigh with lustre, and blinded the persecutors. After wandering about bewildered
among the mountains for a time, they humbly supplicated the mother of the child for the restoration of
their sight ; but she referred them to her wonderful infant Aurva into whom the whole Veda, with its six
Vedangas, had entered as the person who (in retaliation of the slaughter of his relatives) had robbed
them of their eyesight, and who alone could restore it. They accordingly had recourse to him, and their
eyesight was restored. Aurva, however, meditated the destruction of all living creatures, in revenge for
the slaughter of the Bhrigus. and entered on a course of austerities which alarmed both Gods, Asuras,
and men ; but his progenitors (Pitris) themselves appeared, and sought to turn him from his purpose by
82