MN 93 · Khotbah Bersama Assalāyana

Tokoh, tempat, dan gagasan utamanya

Brahmana muda Assalāyana dipilih untuk membela keunggulan kasta brahmana. Buddha mengujinya lewat kenyataan kelahiran, perilaku, hukum, dan pergaulan antarmanusia, hingga klaim kemurnian berdasarkan kelahiran tidak dapat dipertahankan. Inilah Assalāyana Sutta.

TOKOH

Buddha

Guru yang membantah diskriminasi kasta melalui pertanyaan dan contoh.

TOKOH

Assalāyana

Brahmana muda terpelajar yang diminta berdebat demi keunggulan kasta.

TEMPAT

Sāvatthī

Kota tempat perdebatan berlangsung.

GAGASAN

Kelahiran bukan ukuran kemurnian

Semua golongan tunduk pada akibat perbuatan; kebajikan dan kebijaksanaan, bukan garis keturunan, menentukan keluhuran.

Visual pengantar Tiga Keranjang · bukan bagian dari teks kanonik.

Sinopsis singkat

Para brahmana mendorong pemuda terpelajar Assalāyana untuk berdebat dengan Buddha mengenai klaim bahwa kasta brahmana adalah kasta tertinggi dan paling murni. Assalāyana sebenarnya ragu, tetapi akhirnya datang. Buddha membongkar klaim tersebut melalui pertanyaan sederhana tentang kelahiran manusia, masyarakat lain yang hanya mengenal tuan dan budak, akibat perbuatan baik dan buruk, kemampuan dari semua kasta untuk mengembangkan cinta kasih, serta kenyataan bahwa api yang dinyalakan orang dari kasta berbeda tetap memiliki sifat yang sama. Percakapan akhirnya menunjukkan bahwa kemurnian tidak diwariskan melalui kelahiran, melainkan berkaitan dengan perilaku dan kualitas batin.

BAGIAN 11

mn93:11.1 “Even though you say this, still the brahmins maintain their belief.”

mn93:11.4 “What do you think, Assalāyana?

mn93:11.5 Suppose an anointed aristocratic king were to gather a hundred people of various births and say to them:

mn93:11.6 ‘Please worthy sirs, let anyone here who was born in a family of aristocrats, brahmins, or chieftains take a drill-stick made of teak, sal, <i lang='pi' translate='no'>salaḷa</i>, sandalwood, or cherry wood, light a fire and produce heat.

mn93:11.7 And let anyone here who was born in a family of corpse-workers, hunters, bamboo-workers, chariot-makers, or scavengers take a drill-stick made from a mutt’s drinking trough, a pig’s trough, a dustbin, or castor-oil wood, light a fire and produce heat.’

mn93:11.8 What do you think, Assalāyana?

mn93:11.9 Would only the fire produced by the high class people with good quality wood have flames, color, and radiance, and be usable as fire,

mn93:11.10 and not the fire produced by the low class people with poor quality wood?”

mn93:11.11 “No, worthy Gotama.

mn93:11.12 The fire produced by the high class people with good quality wood would have flames, color, and radiance, and be usable as fire,

mn93:11.13 and so would the fire produced by the low class people with poor quality wood.

mn93:11.14 For all fire has flames, color, and radiance, and is usable as fire.”

mn93:11.15 “Then what is the source of the brahmins’ certainty and forcefulness in this matter that they make this claim?”