Medieval Jainism

SR No.: 006727
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: P S Jain, R M Lodha
Publisher: Ashish Publishing House
Publication Year: 1990
Total Pages: 198
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 8 MB

Page 99

8TH CENTURY DOCUMENTS ON MEANS OF FARNING MONEY
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disappointment. Hence he had no attentive but to seek solace in religion. For this purpose he constructed the various means of earning money in a religious and moral sense. For example,
Trade : Control the shop of body by the shop keeper of heart and buy and sell the goods of virtue. In this way one will earn the profit of happiness.19
Begging : If you have to beg then have the howl of trust, put on the lion cloth of control and hang the sling of wisdom deed go about the houses of teachers, you will get the alms of knowledge20 etc.
In the opinion of Uddyotansuri all the above means are connected with violence in some form or another. Therefore man can not get release from this world by using them. Even then there are many worldly people who earn money by these means in order to support their families. Uddoyatana does not approve of these means because of the violent overtones found in them. He wanted that the people should do religious deeds by which they could achieve permanent bliss (192.24).
From the above description of the means of earning money as described by Uddyotana it is clear that various means were used in ancient India to earn money, chief among which were trade, agriculture, sea-voyage, arts and crafts. Mining was also in vogue. In this connection an important point to note is that in the society of the period the division of labour was not rigid on the basis of caste. A merchant could adopt any type of profession.21 Local and foreign all sorts of trades were current. Even at that time Varanasi was a centre of attraction for pilgrims, tourists and merchants. Because of the jostling crowds frauds such as lotting and cheating were practised.