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valuable ideas from various sources, and takes great pleasure in sharing them equally with others.
Earth and water, fire and wind,
Grass, trees, and plants, and all creatures that move, Born of the egg, born of liquids -
These are the classes of living Beings. Know that they all seek happiness. In hurting them men hurt themselves, And will be born again among them...
Even plants are beings, capable of growth, Their bodies need food, they are individuals. The reckless cut them for their own pleasure, And slay many living things in doing so.
- the Sutrakratanga, 1.1-9.,
the Jain text composed in c. 4th B.C..E. Sources of Indian Tradition, Ed. WM. Theodore De Bary.
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