[Buddha-l] Nakedness

[Joy Vriens]

>Responding the the opening part of Joy Vriens' posting: Biardeau's  
>idea that Mahaabharata was composed to some extent in reaction to the  
>rise of Buddhism is sound enough, considering the degree to which  
>Bhakti-oriented varieties of Hinduism wre all motivated in htis waqy  
>--- and Mahaabharata is a work on Bhakta lines, after all.

Yes, she also sees the final systematisation, the vedanta, as having been directly influenced, among other interconnected factors (such as the more active role of the ksatriya), by the rise of Buddhism and Jainism.

>And  
>then, as to 'nakedness', remember that it was intended to serve the  
>purpose of being completely non-attached to anything worldly, as,  
>above all, with the so-called 'sky-clad' (pam.sukulika) variety of  
>Jaina monks. 

Yes, there is an interesting mention of the purusamedha as a first sketch of a sacrifice of renunciation. Has renunciation ever become anything else than a sacrifice in the Indian world?

Joy