225. Q. What does a modern critic say about the effect of Buddhism on woman?
A. That "it has done more for the happiness and enfranchisement of woman than any other creed" (Sir Lepel Griffin).
226. Q. What did the Buddha teach about caste?
A. That one does not become of any caste, whether Pariah, the lowest, or Brāhmana the highest, by birth, but by deeds. "By deeds," said He, "one becomes an outcast, by deeds one becomes a Brāhmana" (See Vassala Sutta).
227. Q. Tell me a story to illustrate this?
A. Ananda, passing by a well, was thirsty and asked Prakrti, a girl of the Mātanga, or Pariah, caste, to give him water. She said she was of such low caste that he would become contaminated by taking water from her hand. But Ananda replied: "I ask not for caste but for water"; and the Mātanga girl's heart was glad and she gave him to drink. The Buddha blessed her for it.
228. Q. What did the Buddha say in "Vasala Sutta" about a man of the Pariah Sopāka caste?
A. That by his merits he reached the highest fame; that many Khattiyas (Kshattriyas) and Brāhmanas went to serve him; and that after death he was born in the Brāhma-world: while there are many Brāhmanas who for their evil deeds are born in hell.
229. Q. Does Buddhism teach the immortality of the soul?
A. It considers "soul" to be a word used by the ignorant to express a false idea. If everything is subject to change, then man is included, and every material part of him must change. That which is subject to change is not permanent: so there can be no immortal survival of a changeful thing.[[10]]