Sramana 2011 01

SR No.: 525075
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Sundarshanlal Jain, Shreeprakash Pandey
Publisher: Parshvanath Vidhyashram Varanasi
Publication Year: 2011
Total Pages: 172
Language: Hindi
Classification: Magazine, India_Sramana, & India
File Size: 15 MB

Page 152

134 : Śramaņa, Vol 62, No. 1 January-March 2011
By tracing the timeline of the usage of this term it becomes clear that the Jaina tradition was the forerunner in using ahimsā as a religious concept. The Vedas briefly mention the term, however their usage is mostly in reference to the god Agni, requesting he does not being harm upon the people. The first time it appears in the Hindu tradition as a moral teaching can be found in the Chāndogya Upanişad, which dates to around 600 BCE, and becomes part of the doctrine from then on. However, Pārsvanātha, who is believed to have lived three centuries before the Upanişads were recorded, attained enlightenment and instructed his followers and fellow monks, who would later be known as Jains, to take up this practice. Centuries later Mahāvīra spreads this message to a wider audience, who would then hold it as their highest dharma. It is therefore likely that the ahiṁsā so widely taught throughout most, if not all, Indian religions has its origins in the Jaina tradition. The promulgation of this practice shows a change in religious consciousness, as well as the goal for many within the Indian religious traditions of the time. Ahimsā remains at the forefront of Jaina doctrine and philosophy, and is perpetuated by its practitioners in a variety of ways. Most known are the ordained monks and nuns who go about carrying brooms to remove critters from their path, and wearing masks to prevent from harming any jīva that may potentially be in the air. However, the laity, too, implements non-violence in their everyday lives, from what they eat to the professions they decide to take. The laity and the ordained hold a reciprocal relationship in which they help one another with their practices, including that of ahiṁsā, with the laity providing food and shelter to the wandering monks and nuns, while the ordained perform rituals, chant mantras, pray and meditate for the well-being of all. Ahimsā as a religious concept began within the tradition that would later be known as Jainism, and remains paramount today, as is evident by both lay and ordained practitioners.