Question

Did chandalas resist the attempts to push them to the bottom of the social order? Read this story, which is part of the Matanga Jataka, a Pali text, where the Bodhisattva (the Buddha in a previous birth) is identified as a chandala. Once, the Bodhisattva was born outside the city of Banaras as a chandala’s son and named Matanga. One day, when he had gone to the city on some work, he encountered Dittha Mangalika, the daughter of a merchant. When she saw him, she exclaimed, “I have seen something inauspicious”, and washed her eyes. The angry hangers-on then beat him up. In protest, he went and lay down at the door of her father’s house. On the seventh day they brought out the girl and gave her to him. She carried the starving Matanga back to the chandala settlement. Once he returned home, he decided to renounce the world. After attaining spiritual powers, he returned to Banaras and married her. A son named Mandavya Kumara was born to them. He learnt the three Vedas as he grew up and began to provide food to 16,000 Brahmanas every day. One day, Matanga, dressed in rags, with a clay alms bowl in his hand, arrived at his son’s doorstep and begged for food. Mandavya replied that he looked like an outcaste and was unworthy of alms; the food was meant for the Brahmanas. Matanga said: “Those who are proud of their birth and are ignorant do not deserve gifts. On the contrary, those who are free from vices are worthy of offerings.” Mandavya lost his temper and asked his servants to throw the man out. Matanga rose in the air and disappeared. When Dittha Mangalika learnt about the incident, she followed Matanga and begged his forgiveness. He asked her to take a bit of the leftover from his bowl and give it to Mandavya and the Brahmanas …

Identify elements in the story that suggest that it was written from the perspective of Matanga.

Answer 1

The narrative in the Matanga Jataka clearly favours Matanga’s perspective by framing him as a spiritually superior protagonist while exposing the moral flaws, arrogance, and hypocrisy of the upper-caste characters.

The Elements Indicating Matanga’s Perspective are as follows:

1. Sympathetic Portrayal of Injustice:
   • Highlights the cruelty Matanga faced for simply being seen.
   • Captures the extreme unfairness of him being beaten up by elite hangers-on.
   • Shows him performing a peaceful, righteous protest (dharna) outside the merchant’s door.
2. Spiritual Supremacy Over Castes:
   • Positions Matanga (a chandala) as the wise Bodhisattva.
   • Grants him divine, supernatural abilities like flying through the air.
   • Portrays upper-caste characters as spiritually blind and dependent on his forgiveness.
3. Exposing the Hypocrisy of Birth-Based Status:
   • Criticises his own son, Mandavya, for prioritising outer appearances and pedigree over virtue.
   • Explicitly states that those proud of their birth but ignorant do not deserve gifts.
   • Redefines true worthiness based on being “free from vices” rather than caste lines.
4. The Ultimate Submission of Elites:
   • Shows the high-caste merchant’s daughter, Dittha Mangalika, begging a chandala for mercy.
   • Forces the proud Brahmanas and Mandavya to accept and eat the leftovers from Matanga’s clay bowl to survive or be purified.