Jain Journal 2004 07

SR No.: 520155
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publication Year: 2004
Total Pages: 46
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, India_Jain Journal, & India
File Size: 3 MB

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JAIN JOURNAL: VOL-XXXIX, NO. 1 JULY 2004
the retaliatary act of Vişņukumära that occurs in the Neminātha Purāņa. Therefore, “violence as such is ethically bad, but in true life one has to consider the whole situation before deciding whether the use of violence is justified as a mixed good. The whole situation may not be dominated by one, single ethical principle" [ Vincent Sekhar: 172].
1.05.4. Analogous with this, a soldier killing his enemies on the battlefield will not make him a criminal and he will be persona grata. But, if the same warrior murders or harms somebody whom he does not like warrants punishment as it amounts to violence, and he will be persona non grata.
It is a fact that Jaina samgha was mostly patronised by the royal elite, traders and burghers. At the same time, the apparent espousal of Jainism by aggressive and militaristic kings and generals needs consideration. Jainism, a religion of non-violence, enjoying spontaneous sponsorship by very many warrior aristocrats, needs a detailed discussion. The religion had not only forged close relationship even with martial class, but also played a vital role in the foundation of some royal dynasties.
1.06. Participating in the war, causing wholesale hiṁsā, is the most debatable part of the doctrine of ahimsā vs hiṁsā that has often spawned controversies. The illustrious Mahāmēghavāhana Khāravēla (c. 2d cent. B.C.), possibly the greatest king of war and peace, was perhaps the best and earliest of Jaina kings who so brilliantly but appropriately handled the problem to strike a synthesis. He openly came out with a seminal dictum to set right the confusion of the Ksatriyas. Khāravēla, king of Kalinga, himself a staunch devout Jaina by faith and a true Ksatriya by profession, comprehended a concordance between the riddle of himsā vs ahiṁsā. He reiterated that Kșātradharma, the duties enjoined to Kșatriyas, should sustain, a verity most germane to the present discussion.
1.06.1. Khāravela even went to the extent of making provision, for the Kșatriyas, of performing yāgas, a religious sacrifice, with which the Ksatriya derives satisfaction and inspiration. He held his Jaina council at Udayagiri in the 13th regnal year. He performed rājasūya