By birth you do not become a lowly person, but by deed you become a Brahmin. By deed you become a lowly person and a Brahmin" - Listening to the Buddha's words
136 By birth you do not become a lowly man; by birth you do not become a Brahmin. By birth one does not become a Brahmin. By deed one becomes a lowly man, and by deed one becomes a Brahmin.
Hajime Nakamura's translation of Buddha's Words, I, chapter on serpents, 7. The Lowly Man, p35
Let us listen to the words of the Buddha today.
This verse is also a well-known word.
The meaning of this verse is that one's birth does not determine one's status, but that one can be a lowly person or a Brahmin (priest) according to one's deeds.
For those of us living in modern times, these words seem to come easily to us, but in India at the time when the Buddha lived, the situation was completely different.
India has a strict caste system.
Its origins are ancient, and its framework was already beginning to be established around the 1200s B.C.
As the diagram shows, the basis of its status system is a pyramidal structure.
From the top are Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaisya, and Shudra.
The katakana words are hard to pin down, but if we paraphrase them, they are clergy, royalty, aristocrats, citizens, and slaves.
When you think about it this way, doesn't it seem somewhat similar to the samurai, farmers, and merchants of the Edo period?
And below this pyramid of status structure, there is an even lower discriminated class called the outcastes.
The important thing about these caste systems was that all these castes were determined by birth.
It does not matter what kind of person he or she is or what kind of deeds he or she has performed.
It was a society in which it was completely impossible to choose one's own life.
In modern India, the caste system is officially supposed to be non-existent, but its influence still remains quite strong.
Returning to the Buddha's words, the Buddha had this to say about the caste system.
He said, "One does not become a lowly man or a Brahmin by birth, but by deeds. By deeds one becomes both a lowly man and a Brahmin."
Even if a person has a high status as a Brahmin, if all he does is ugly or abusive, can he really be called a Brahmin?
Is a person really a lowly person just because he or she is of low status? Isn't it possible for a person to live like a human being even if he or she is an outcaste?
Why should people be so distinguished by birth alone?
The Buddha speaks thus.
In other words, the Buddha is not trying to categorize people into a caste, but rather to see each person as a human being.
At the same time, it also states that each person should have dignity in his or her own way of life without being cursed by caste.
I am of this caste anyway, so there is nothing I can do... I am a worthless person by nature..."
There were countless people in India who suffered from such thoughts.
That is why the Buddha preached, "That is not true. People become human beings not by birth but by deed.
Of course, even the Buddha cannot change the institutions of society.
No matter how much the Buddha said so, the real world never gave up the caste system.
But the Buddha said, "That is not true. It was important in itself that he voiced that a person's value is not determined by birth alone.
I object to what everyone in the world has taken for granted.
This is no mean feat.
Many people felt that something was wrong, but were afraid that if they spoke out, they would be punished or ostracized, and their lives would be ruined.
Against this backdrop, the Buddha raised his voice and said, "A person's value is not determined by his birth.
That is why the suffering people listened to the words of the Buddha.
This story is not an unrelated issue to those of us living in Japan.
Take, for example, titles. This may seem like a very different issue from the caste system, but at the root, it is also connected to the caste system.
Have you ever judged and made assumptions about someone based on their title?
When I found out that the man I was talking to in a friendly manner was actually the president of a big company, I changed my attitude.
I have had that experience many times.
I am inevitably influenced by titles.
Of course, this does not mean that titles are completely meaningless. If you lose respect for the other party, you have nothing to lose.
Instead, the trap is that we try to judge everything by its title.
That's why I said, "That's not good enough. The Buddha says, "Look at the person more. Buddha says, "That is not the way to do it.
And also, "Don't take advantage of your title yourself. It is your own deeds that make you who you are," the Buddha admonished.
It is easier said than done, but it is very difficult to do it on a daily basis, but I really want to become a person who can do that.
I have discussed the caste system in the context of the caste system, which is so complex that it would be very difficult to give a short talk about it. It is also a sensitive issue that continues to this day. If we simplify it, there is a danger that the essential things will be lost without being conveyed.
So I cannot talk more about the caste system itself, but it is one of the most important backgrounds to know about Buddhism. If you are interested, please read the various books available on the subject.
Well, that's all for today.
Thank you for staying with us today until the end.
Next Article.
Related Articles
