Mahavira Smruti Granth Part 01

SR No.: 010530
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Kamtaprasad Jain, Others
Publisher: Mahavir Jain Society Agra
Total Pages: 363
Language: Hindi
Classification: Smruti_Granth
File Size: 9 MB

Page 332

३०८
म० महावीर-स्मृति-अंध।
Buddhist scholars translated it into Chinese as "Pu-Hai," meaning "NonHurting" It's positive form 18 'Love,' 'Universal Love. That is "Maitri" in Sanskrit, "Jen" in Chinese. These couples of words, Ahimsā and Maitri, or Non-Violence and Universal Love, or Pu-Hai and Jed, were born married And they could never and would never be divorced or separated. They always carry the same message and disseminate the same gospel together. But the Chinese prefer to use the positive form ratber than the negative, while Indians on the other hand prefer to use the negative onc. Therefore the Chinese and the Indian have also become an unseparated couple in Culture
Why was the negative word preferred by the Indians ? Gandhiji once explained this by saying :-"All life in the flesh extste by some violence. Hence the highest religion has been defined by a negative word, Ahimsā. The world 18 bound in a chain of destruction In other words, violence is an inherent necessity for life in the body. That is why a votary of Abımsa always prays for ultimate deliverance from the bondage of the flesh." (C. F. Andrews · Mahatma Gandhi's Ideas p. 138 )
The Chinese sage, Mencius, put it 10 another way. He said _"Men must be decided on what they will not do, and then they are able to act with vigour in what they ought to do " If a man wants to do things good, he must first not do things evil So also if a man wants to love people and other berags be must first not hurt them. If a man preaches Love or Maitri or Jen, but does not practise Abımsa, or Non-Vlolence, or Jen, then his Love Is DO reality. It 18 merely a false expression or bypocrisy Therefore almost all the great religions 10 the world uphold a set of precepts to govern the acts of their followers
Ahimsa in Sino-Indian Culture is not only a very prominent feature but also an ancient tradition. It 15 as ancient as the culture itself. Or as Gandbiji gasd :-"Truth and Non-Violence are as old as the hills" (The Harijan : 28-3-1936) In Iadia, Ahımsā is one of the most cardinal virtues and doctrines of almost all the religious and philosopbical sects It had been repeatedly taught and expressly stated by the Rishis in the ancient scriptures, such as the Antareya Brāhmana, the Satapatha Brābmada, the Chhan-dogya Upanishad, the Vāmana Purāna and Manu's book of Law Therefore it was thus declared in the Mabābhārata - "Abimsä 18 the Supreme Religion" And Gandhiji did recite the same words on several occas1008. (C. F. Andrews : Mahatma Gandhi's Ideas }
But the Gospel of Ahimsā tras first deeply and systematically expounded and properly and specially preached by the Jaina Tirthankaras, most promiDently by the 24th Tirthankara, the last one, Mahāvīra Vardbamāna. Then again by Lord Buddha. And at last it was embodied in the thoughts, words and deeds and symbolized by the very life of Mahatma Gandhi.