Vol. 11 · pages 531–535

512 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES VI 3. It is rather surprising that a reference to Dukkha should give cause to such an accusation. 4. Karl Marx also said that there is exploitation in the world and the rich are being made richer and the poor are being made poorer. 5. And yet nobody has said that Karl Marx’s doctrine is pessimism. 6. Why then should a different attitude be shown to the Buddha’s doctrine? 7. It may be because the Buddha is reported to have said in his first sermon, Birth is sorrowful, old age is sorrowful, death is sorrowful, that a deeper pessimistic colouring has been given to his Dhamma. 8. But those who know rhetoric know that this is an artifice of exaggeration and that it is practised by skilled literary hands to produce effect. 9. That birth is sorrowful is an exaggeration by the Buddha can be proved by reference to a sermon of his in which he has preached that birth as a human being is a very precious thing. 10. Again, if the Buddha had merely referred to Dukkha such an accusation could be sustainable. 11. But the Buddha’s second Aryan Truth emphasizes that this Dukkha must be removed. In order to emphasize the duty of removal of Dukkha he spoke of the existence of Dukkha. 12. To the removal of Dukkha the Buddha attached great importance. It is because he found that Kapila merely stated that there was Dukkha and said nothing more about it that he felt dissatisfied and left the Ashram of Muni Alara Kalam. 13. How can this Dhamma be called pessimistic? 14. Surely a teacher who is anxious to remove Dukkha cannot be charged with pessimism. § 5. Critics of the Theory of Soul and Rebirth 1. The Blessed Lord preached that there was no Soul. The Blessed Lord also affirmed that there was rebirth.

513 CRITICS OF HIS DOCTRINES VI 2. There were not wanting people who criticised the Lord for preaching what they regarded as two such contradictory doctrines. 3. How can there be rebirth if there is no Soul, they asked. 4. There is no contradiction. There can be rebirth even though there is no Soul. 5. There is a mango stone. The stone gives rise to a mango tree. The mango tree produces mangoes. 6. Here is rebirth of a mango. 7. But there is no Soul. 8. So there can be rebirth although there is no Soul. § 6. Charge of Being an Annihilationist 1. Once when the Lord was staying at Shravasti in Jeta’s grove it was reported to him that a certain bhikkhu by name Arittha had come to certain views about the doctrines taught by the Lord, as the views of the Lord although they were not the views of the Lord. 2. One of the doctrines about which Arittha was misrepresenting the Lord was whether he was an annihilationist. 3. The Blessed Lord sent for Arittha. Arittha came. On being questioned he sat silent and glum. 4. The Lord then said to him : “ Some recluses and Brahmins—wrongly, erroneously and falsely— charge me in defiance of facts, with being an annihilationist and with preaching disintegration, and extirpation of existing creatures. 5. It is just what I am not and what I do not affirm. 6. What I have consistently preached both in the past and today is the existence of ill and the ending of ill.

PART IV Friends and Admirers 1. Devotion of Dhananjanani—a Brahmini. 2. The Abiding Faith of Visakha. 3. The Devotion of Mallika. 4. The ardent Wish of a Pregnant Mother. 5. Keniya’s Welcome. 6. Pasendi in Praise of the Master.