Book Title: Chanakya Explored in Jaina Literature
Author(s): Nalini Joshi
Publisher: Firodaya Prakashan

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Page 211
________________ 201 This is the natural reflective reaction of the harsh and strict attitude towards heretics depicted in the Kauțilīya Arthaśāstra. Later Jaina authors have avoided the word para-pāşanda and have used the word “anya-drșți’ (Tattvārtha 7.18). Likewise the Jainas created the new word ‘mithya-drsți' or 'mithyātvi 'to replace the word “pāşanda'. It is noteworthy that the liberal-minded monarch Asoka offered a new measure to the word “pāşanda' in his rock-edicts. According to him “pāșanda' is 'sect' whether it is one's own or of the others and expects that there should be an equal honor towards 'ātma-pāşanda and ‘para-pāșanda'. [5] Tīrtha : The term “tīrtha' carries a peculiar meaning in the Arthaśāstra and in the Jaina religion, based on the etymological meaning viz. a passage, way, road, ford or a descent into a river. In the 12th adhyāya of Arthaśāstra, Kautilya uses the phrase 'अष्टादशेषु तीर्थेषु' in which eighteen departments of the government are implied. We find the same meaning of the word in the Rāmāyaṇa (Hivargaonkar, Introduction p.43). According to Kautilya, mahāmātra is the chief of each department and in this sense the person is the tīrthakara. In the second chapter of the work “Nītivākyāmsta' which is a later version of the Arthaśāstra, the Digambara writer Somadeva says, "444491RA: Alf44a1aez 9691: l'It is seen that Somadeva includes the officers in the definition of tīrtha, who look after the religious matter as well as carry out the legislative, judicial and executive functions of the government. The Tīrthankara or Tīrthakara is a Jaina Arhat who is a sacred preceptor, who shows the right path of liberation. He is

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