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brahmanic smstis and dharmaśāstras. The Buddhist śrāvakācāra in the form of pañcaśīla does not contain minute details as the Jainas have, in the transgressions of vows. It is noteworthy that the sources of the Jaina śrāvakācāra are deeply rooted in the Kautilīya Arthaśāstra. This is one of the convincing reason, why the Jainas have so much regard and honour towards Cāņakya alias Kautilya.
Ahiṁsā, Satya etc. are no doubt the universal values which are applicable to all human beings. But the Jaina mentors are not satisfied with preaching the sādhāraṇa-dharmas. They have made a successful effort to collaborate the višeșa-dharmas by mentioning transgressions of each vow in order to bring it in the domain of practicability. In this process, the Kautilya's Arthaśāstra helped them a lot.
Guņavratas and Śikṣāvratas are based on the distinct religious, philosophical and ritualistic tenets of the Jainas. Thus the whole śrāvakācāra is the unique example of assimilation and iden
tity.
[5] Re-interpretation of the Jaina monachism in the light of
Kautilīya Arthaśāstra Scholars of Indology always claim that the śramaņic traditions in India are basically renunciative in nature. This fact is aptly applicable to the Jaina tradition, which is almost the most ancient so called 'atheist' spiritual tradition. Austerities, penances and meditation are the benchmarks of the renunciative reflections gathered together in the ancient Ardhamāgadhi scriptures of the Jainas, which is the first stage of the Jaina literature. We can call it as a preCāņakyan stage. Ardhamāgadhi mūlasūtras like the Āvaśyaka, Uttarādhayayana and Daśavaikālika, represent the second stage of
