[Buddha-l] Great Renunciation

[rbaksa at mac.com]

I've read an article by Chandrabhan Prasad who, writing about Dr B R Ambedkar and Great Renunciation, quotes from a book by Anand Shrikrishna as follows:

"The contemporary Dalit India is witnessing a great transformation, where most educated and accomplished Dalits, like true followers of Dr Ambedkar, are turning to Buddhism. Along with that, a very fine scholarly tradition, too, is being established. Research and writings on Buddhism is a phenomenon. In that, Anand Shrikrishna, a civil servant though, has emerged as an intellectual leader on Buddhism. His recent book Gautam Buddha and aur Unke Updesh (Gautam Buddha and His Teachings), launched on July 7 in Delhi, is a great book.

Taking a closer look at Ambedkar's theory of renunciation, Anand Shrikrishna explains in detail about the factors which propelled Buddha to take Parivraja.

First, when Buddha left the worldly life, both his father Shuddodan and maternal aunt Gautami were around 70 years old. So, it's indeed absurd to say that Buddha had not seen old people before. It is equally absurd to believe that by the age of 29, Buddha had not seen a dead or sick person.

Then, what were the immediate reasons which led Buddha to renunciation? As the book details, it was all about War and Peace.

Siddharth Gautam was born in the Sakyan Republic. The Sakyans had a democratic system and the republic was headed by a host of Sakyan clans. Traditionally, the Sakyans would form a Shangha or Union, sort of a parliament of the day, which will decide things for the King. The Union was the supreme body.

Located on the bank of the river Rohini, the Sakyan republic had, on the other side of the river, yet another republic of Kolis, a rival in many senses.

The citizens of both the republics depended on the Rohini for irrigation. During drought or scarcity or water, both the republics would fight bitter battles, resulting in bloodshed a la the Kaveri water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

On one such occasion, tension was building up in both the republics. The Sakyan Union decided by a majority to attack the Kolis in order to teach them a lesson. Siddharth argued with both the Union members and the chief of the Sakyan army not to attack the Kolis.

The Union and the army chief were all for the war. The army chief, in fact, had invoked Siddharth's Kshatriya Dharma that he is meant for wars. But, the determined Siddhartha stood for peace, arguing that war cannot be a rational solution, negotiations and talks would.

Both sides stuck to their positions, Siddhartha for peace, and the Sakyan Union for war.

Siddhartha had to pay for his pro-peace position. As per the Sakyan union tradition, anyone defying the majority decision could be subjected to social boycott, confiscation of property, even exile. Siddharth was confronted with this question, and decided to take Parivraja lest his family face unnecessary hardship. But, it wasn't only that.

The book reproduces Siddhartha's dialogue with his father Shuddodan and Gautami on his decision to take Parivraja.

The dialogue is ample evidence to showing that at 29, Siddhartha was already a philosopher of peace. His concerns were not confined to his family alone or to the Kolis and Sakyan, but the entire humanity at large."


I have never run across this explanation of the Great Renunciation before and would appreciate any information on it from the members of this list.

Richard Baksa

Best wishes,
Richard