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TAINA ATTITUDE TO ANIMAL
WORLD: IMPACT ON SOCIAL LIFE IN INDIA -
O PRADYUMNA KUMAR JAIN,
The paper aims at focussing attention on the cultural attitude of Jainas towards the animal world in its totality including birds, insects and fish. Although the historicity of Jainism is believed to date back to the pre-Aryan times in India, it emerged as a religion in the fifth century B.C. with Mahavira, the last and the twenty fourth Tirthankara (Divine teacher) of the Jainism, to be adopted and practised by an influential section of the Indian Society. There after with the passage of time and growing royal patronage, it further evolved itself into a powerful philosophy of life which has its bearing on millions of people in India.
The meaning of the term jaina is to be understood from its Sanskrit origin which means the conqueror of desires and in whom the soul asserts the supreme and perfected powers. Such a person is called Jina and his followers as Jainas. Jainism acknowledges twenty four Tirthankaras or the divine teachers whose chronological names alongwith their symbols are given in Part-Il of this paper. The Bhagwata Purana. an ancient scripture
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Shri Vijyanand Suri Swargarohan Shatabdi Granth
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