[Buddha-l] nytimes review of pbs The Buddha

[Dan Lusthaus]

In Richard's eagerness to confuse you, Bob, he might have had a spot of 
dizziness himself, since this is one of those "60s Buddhism" things he 
doesn't treasure (the flesh is weak... and tasty).

But it's not ALL Mahayanists who advocated vegetarianism. Unlike the 60s 
Buddhist image of Buddhists as tofu pacifists, in India their reputation was 
exactly the OPPOSITE.

A splendid book I would recommend to everyone is Krishna Kanta Handiqui's 
Yaśastilaka and Indian Culture or Somadeva's Yaśastilaka and Aspects of 
Jainism and Indian thought and Culture in the Tenth Century. Sholapur, 
India: Jaina Saṃskṛti Saṃrakshaka Saṅgha, 1968.

A marvelous book, a model of how such things should be tackled -- covering 
the work from so many aspects, expertly and clearly. The Yasatilaka is a 
long Jaina epic from the 10th c. in prose and verse that promotes the Jain 
cause with a long and interesting story (the story was already a standard 
narrative, but Somadeva's erudition and skill at kavya [Sanskrit poetic 
artistry], philosophy, grammar, etc., raise it to a higher level). 
Handiqui's book is a study of the text and its contexts, not a translation 
(he leaves many of his example quotations from the text untranslated in 
devanagri).

The 13th chap. of Handiqui's book, entitled "Jainism and Other Faiths" goes 
through what the text has to say about Brahmans, Saivites of various 
stripes, Vaisnavas, etc., and a section of that chapter titled "Buddhist and 
Other Sects" begins with this paragraph (p. 371):

The Jainas had nothing but contempt for those communities who had no 
objection to taking flesh and wine. In Yaśastilaka VI. 10 the Veda and the 
Buddhist and the Śaiva scriptures are described as favouring the use of 
honey, flesh and wine. [1] The Buddhists are particularly decried for not 
observing any restrictions in regard to food and drink. In Yaśastilaka VI. 2 
Somadeva asks: How can the wise respect the Buddhist who is addicted to 
flesh and wine? [2]



(the footnotes, in devanagri, read as follows)



[1] śruti-śākya-śivām-nāyaḥ kṣaudramāṃsāsavāśrayaḥ p. 296.

[2] kathaṃ manīṣibhirmānyastarasāsavaśaktadhī p. 276.



So that was the Buddhist reputation in India a thousand years ago. Addicted 
to meat and liquor. Like most Buddhist scholars today (being a vegetarian 
Buddhist scholar is a lonely business -- I speak from experience).



Dan