kShatriya-s in Kali age
Parashurama and Nanda eliminations
“The very basic question was whether there were any true Kṣatriyas alive during the Kali age. The questions were prompted by the Purānic story of the sage Paraśurāma having killed in revenge all the Kṣatriyas on the earth twenty-one times, and by the Purānic narratives that claimed that there will be no Kṣatriya dynasties after the Nandas [nandāntam Kṣatriyakulam], the precursors of the Mauryas in the 3rd century bc [tatahprabhr̥ti sūdrā-bhūpālā bhavisyanti, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, 4.24.21; also Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, 12.1.8-10].”
“These stories were widely interpreted by the authors on the Dharmaśāstra to suggest that there were only two Varnas left in the Kali-age, the Brahmins and the śūdras. Everyone other than Brahmins is a śūdra [“kalāv ādyantayoh sthitiḥ”, quoted in Kamalākarabhaṭṭa’s śūdrakamalākara].”
Exceptions
- Many were tales of kShatriya-s surviving parashurAma’s slaughter.
ChandrasenIya-kAyastha-prabhu example:
“When Parasurāma was killing all Kṣatriyas on earth in revenge, the pregnant queen of the king Candrasena took shelter in the hermitage of the sage Dālbhya. In pursuit, when Parasurāma arrived at Dālbhya’s hermitage, he was pleased with Dālbhyas hospitality, and offered Dālbhya a boon. Dālbhya requested that the life of the unborn child of the queen of Candrasena who had taken shelter in his hermitage be spared. Parasurāma agreed to save the child on the condition that the child, though a born Kṣatriya, must not do the function of a Kṣatriya. This is how the CKPs became accountants, even though they claimed a Kṣatriya birth.”
vAnaras-
There does exist an inscription saying that Vali and his clan were descendants of a race of Kshatriyas who emerged in the aftermath of Parashurama’s hunt for kshatriyas. An inscription dated in “the 38th regnal year of King Vikramadhitya VI (i.e., in AD 1112) dealing with the origin of his feudatory of his Dadiga, son of king Gunda, of the Bali race and of Bappura family, ruler over KisukAd, says the following:- ‘When JAmadagnya came in the course of his wanderings in which he destroyed the Ksatriya race, there were born from the caves of mount KiskindhA certain heroes from whom sprang the members of Bali race, who were the ornaments of Bappuras” {2}
“Kamalākara also cites the story of the son of Citrasena’s queen being saved by Dālbhya from being killed by Parasurāma, but seems to have taken the line rāmājnayā sa dālbhyena ksatradharmād bahiṣkr̥tah to mean that the child was deprived of his Kṣatriyatva (śūdrakamalākara, folios 89—90).”
“2 vaṁśa-s regarded as genuine in śāstra (sūrya & candra) are said to be revived after this kaliyuga with 2 kings. The 2 are maru of ikṣvāku-vaṁśa & devapi of puruvaṁśa (mahābhārata-fame, śāntanu’s brother); who are said to be installed by kalki after kaliyuga ends.”
Degenerate kShatriya concept
“Kṣatriyas physically survived in the Kali age, but by non-performance of their initiation for generations patitasāvitrika, they reached a śūdra like state.”
kamalākara (citing his father Rāmakr̥ṣṇa) in śūdrakamalākara:
“It cites the famous verse saying that there are only two Varnas in the Kali age. However, it cites other verses saying that there are Kṣatriyas and Vaisyas in the seed form even in the Kali age, and yet they have lost their dharma and have been reduced to the status of śūdras (cf. pracchannarūpāh svakarma-bhrastāḥ ksatriyā vaisyās ca santy eva kvacid ity asmatpitr̥caranāh, śūdrakamalākara, folios 93-94).”
parAkhya-saMhitA -
amadyapaḥ kulīnaśca,
nityaṃ dharma parāyaṇaḥ |
śūdraḥ kṣatriyavat jñeyaś,
śeṣā nindyās tato bhṛśam ||
Continuous saMskAra cases
In some cases, one may argue that despite stories of their elimination, some kShatriya clans survived and maintained an unbroken tradition of basic saMskAra-s.
Restoration by vrātyastōma
- “Kamlākara’s grandfather, and Gāgābhaṭṭa’s great grand-father, Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa, in his work Dharmapravrtti, refers to those Brahmins, Kṣatriyas and Vaisyas who exceed the maximum age limit allotted for their Upanayana, and says that they fall to śūdra-hood and are excluded from all religious rites, UNLESS THEY PERFORM THE EXPIATORY RITE OF VRāTYASTOMA. [ata ūrdhvam patanty ete sarva-dharma-bahiskrtāḥ / sāvitrī-patitā vrātyā vrātyastomād r̥te kratoh, folio 51 ; sāvitrī patitā yasya daśa varsāṇi pañca va / sasikham vapanam kr̥tvā vrataṁ kuryāt samāhitaḥ // ekaviṁśati-rātraṁ ca pibet prasr̥ti-yāvakam / bhojayec ca haviśyānnam brāhmanān sapta panca ca / tato yāvaka-suddhasya tasyopanayanam smrtam. etad upanayanasya param akālāt pūrva-kāle jñeyam/ ata ūrdhvam vrātya-stomaḥ vrātyastomād r̥te kr̥te nivacanāt, Folio 145]”
- “It would appear that Gāgābhaṭṭa accepted the first argument about the seed-presence of the Kṣatriyas in the Kali age, and tried to remedy their loss of dharma with purificatory vrātya-stoma rite. Gāgābhaṭṭa, taking cues from the works of his great grand father Nārāyaṇa-bhaṭṭa, and his uncle Kamalākara bhaṭṭa, offered expiation for such individuals. Seen in the context of the views of Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa and Kamalākarabhaṭṭa, Gāgābhaṭṭa’s further step does not appear to be excessively transgressive.”
- On these points, Nāgeśabhaṭṭa differed from Gāgābhaṭṭa, and Nāgeśabhaṭṭa’s views continued to influence his successors like Nilakaṇṭha Shastri Thane.
HiraNyagarbha rite
- A kShatriya-wannabe could perform the hiraNyagarbha rite (atharva-veda-parishiShTa 13.2 morphed with regional anukalpa-s and paddhati-s).
- According to practice and paddhati-s, this involves offering up a golden calf (sometimes substituted by bronze as by vIrarAghava nAyaka).
- The yajamAna is popularly considered to have taken a second birth (parishiShTa clues - rājā hiraṇyagarbhatvam abhīpsaty asmin bhavanto ’numanyantām iti. ).
- The phala is very general, according to the parishiShTa - whatever the brAhmaNa-s grant.
वेदानां पारगा यस्य
चतुर्णां ब्रह्मवित्तमाः ।
तुष्टा यस्याशिषो ब्रूयुस्
तस्य यज्ञफलं भवेत् ॥
‘Hiraṇyagarbha’ in the Kapilasmṛti claims to give Śūdra the adhikāra of mauñjī, and through mauñjī the attainment of Vipratva.
हिरण्यगर्भ-त्रितय-
दान-मात्रेण तत्-क्षणात् ॥ ८८३
विप्रत्वं परम् आप्नोति
वृषलो नात्र संशयः ।
हिरण्य-गर्भ-दानस्य
चतुर्-वार-कृतस्य तु ।
महिम्ना वृषलस्यापि
मौञ्ज्याम् अधिकृतिर् भवेत्॥ ८९६
ततोऽपि कृतया मौञ्ज्या
शूद्रो ब्राह्मण्यम् ऋच्छति।कपिलस्मृतिः