Epistemologies and the Limitations of Philosophical Inquiry by Sarma Deepak

Author:Sarma, Deepak [DEEPAK SARMA]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)
Published: 2011-08-23T16:00:00+00:00

An exception from the Mahābhārata

There was one place in the Mādhva corpus where an exception was made and that is in his commentary on Brahma Sūtra 1.3.38, in the context of punishments prescribed for śūdras who broke the rules of access. The aphorism is vague without Madhvācārya commentary:

And from the prohibition in traditional texts (smṛti) from knowing the meaning, studying and hearing.79

Citing from Gautama-dharmaśāstra (Gautama’s Treatise on the Law80) 12.4–6, Madhvācārya suggested that several forms of discipline and punishment would guarantee adherence to the rules:

For the śūdra is prohibited from studying the Vedas: If a śūdra hears the Vedas his ears are to be filled with lead and lac. If he speaks the Vedas his tongue is to be slit. If he understands the Vedas his heart is to be ripped open.” According to the traditional texts; “There is no fire, nor sacrifice for the śūdra, certainly no study of the Vedas. But only the service81 of the first three classes is enjoined.” For Vidura and the rest, from being knowers of what is to be known, of those special cases, there is an exception.82

Although the punishments are rather startling, the mention of Vidura is far more startling. Who was Vidura and why was he exceptional? Vidura was a character from the Mahābhārata (1.100.22–28), which, of course, was a root text. The story of his birth explained why he was permitted to transgress the textual boundaries. Vyāsa, a sage, was asked by Satyavatī to have sex with her daughters-in-law in order to produce needed children. Vyāsa agreed but required that the daughters-in-law did not break a vow, namely a promise not to react in any way to his ugliness during sexual intimacy. The first two women failed to comply with the vow, reacted, and, for that reason, their children were physically incapacitated. Paṇḍu was born pale and sickly because his mother paled with fright when she made love to Vyāsa. Dhṛtararāṣṭra was born blind because his mother closed her eyes during intercourse. The elder daughter-in-law sent a lower-class slave dressed as herself to have sex with Vyāsa. The slave woman, unlike the other daughters-in-law, did not react in a negative way. In fact, she acted appropriately and gave Vyāsa great pleasure. Vyāsa awarded her for her behavior and the result was Vidura, an incarnation (avatāra) of the god Dharma (Law) himself who was born as a human as a result of a curse by a brahmin.83 The Pāṇḍvas, a royal family from the Mahābhārata, loved Vidura for his great knowledge and impartiality. His knowledge, however, far outreached his birthright as the son of a slave. It was for this reason that Madhvācārya held Vidura to be an exception to his rules that restricted śūdras.

There was still a slight ambiguity here given the use of the term “and the rest” (ādi). Jayatīrtha expanded on Madhvācārya’s commentary:

Here is an explanation of the passage beginning “For Vidura and the rest”: There is an exception for them, for those other śūdras like Vidura and

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