Ahimsa and Jainism

Author(s): Vijayvallabhsuri
Publisher: Vallabhsuri Smarak Nidhi

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TOLERANCE
The standard of Ahimsa is very high in the case of a monk; and many a time it it wrongly applied to a householder, with the result that the cult of Ahimsa comes to be misrepresented in the hands of those who have studied only the ascetic manuals of Jainism. The ideal form of Ahimsa is meant only for a monk; but to the layman it is prescribed according to his position and stage of religious progress. This has allowed Jain kings and heroes to fight on the battlefield for their kingdom and for their safety and honour. Under some of the dynasties in the South and Gujarat, there have flourished many soldiers who were both great warriors and pious Jains.
As injury to animals is to be avoided Jainism has preached strict vegetarianism; and the Jain worship involves no injury to any form of life The literature of the religion, in different languages, includes myths, fairy tales, proverbs, popular stories, behaviour-patterns and moral exhortations all of which denounce cruelty to living beings. The political history of India knows no cases of persecution by Jain kings, although Jain monks and laymen have suffered