Agam 01 Ang 01 Acharang Sutra Aayaro Terapanth

Author(s): Tulsi Acharya
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

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the oldest and at the same time absolutely free from my thology, is an illustration of the extreme type of asceticism adumbrated in the text. We shall see in what follows the religio-moral spirit that characterized the age of Mahavira and has found vent through the pithy sayings and pregnant expressions which are so abundant in the work under review.
2. Now to come to the pithy sayings, they cover a large number of themes, namely, rejection of violence or nonviolence, bondage and emancipation, fearlessness, friendship, attachment to life, ätman in its empirical and transcendental aspects, mysticism, renunciation, asceticism, clusters of essentially connected concepts, prophetic injunctions (prajñāpana), and such other subjects which offer copious insight into the moral and spiritual background of Mahavira's teachings,
(i) Non-violence: The man of violence (damda) is indeed he who is unmindful and addicted to wordly pleasures5. Above, below, and in front, people indulge in 'violent activities against living beings individually and collectively in many ways; discerning this, a wise man neither himself inflicts violence on these bodies, nor induces others to do so, nor approves of their doing so. The unwise are sleeping, the wise are awake; know that pain is the cause of evil in the world; knowing the welfare of the world, one should eschew weapons of violence'.
sadde ya phase ahiyasa muna nivvimda namdim iha jwiyas sa muni monam samådāya, dhune kamma -sariragam pamtam lūham sevamti vira samattadams ino
esa oghaṁtare munī, tinne mutte virate, viyāhite tti be mi 5. ibid. I, 1.4. 68-69:
virehim eyam abhibitiya dittham, samjatehim sayā jatehim sayā appamattehim
je pa matte gunatthie, se hu damde pavuccati 6. ibid. I, 8, 1.17-18:
uddham aham tiriyam disāsu, savvato Savvāvamti ca pam padiyakkam jivehim kamma-samārambhe nam tam pariņnāya mehāvi neva sayam etehim käehim dandam samarambhejjā, ņevannehim etehim kāehim dandam samarambhāvejjā,
ņevanne etehim kāehim damdam samarambhamte vi samanujanejjā 7. ibid. I, 3.1.1-3:
sutta amuni savā, mupiņo sayā jāgaramti, loyamsi jāpa ahiyaya dukkham, samayam logassa jāņittā, ettha satthovarae
gaham aharlikan jivehin kayam etehim masrambhāvejjānujānejja
.17-18: