________________
from taking the vows of moral upliftment."** Such contrasting views regarding the
criteria of vegetarianism and non-vegetarianism for the Anuvratis was not exclusive to
the laity but was also reflected among my ascetic respondents. Perhaps, it raise the
question of why there should be an absolute line between animals/insects on the one
hand, and plants on the other, especially since we know of all the virtually invisible forms
of life, down to the size of viruses that exist and can be killed by our activities. If we have
the right to take medicine to kill infections or viruses in our bodies, do we also have the
right to research how to exterminate such infections or viruses? What does "innocent”
mean here - anything that is of potential harm to humans?
Coming to the vow, I will not commit feticide - in a strongly patriarchal society
like India, abortion is principally sex selective abortion of females. New data from the
2011 Indian census show that there are now 914 girls aged 0-6 years old for every 1,000
boys of the same age. [...] Anyhow ratio has deteriorated from the 2001 ratio of 927
girls.89 To counter these social issues, the Akhil Bhartiya Terapanth Mahila Mandal
(ABTMM), a women's association has been working actively since 1966. The women's
association was formed with the inspiration from Acharya Tulsi to increase public
awareness on gender exploitation, issue of female feticide and other challenges of
modern society. One respondent, who presided over ABTMM for several consecutive
terms, said: "Our nationwide Save Girl Child movement is running very successful. We
organize workshops, campaigns, rallies, press releases, banners on the subject,
88 Verma, interview.
89 The Economist online, “Sons and Daughters," The Economist, April 4, 2011, http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/04/indias_sex_ratio.
