Charlotte Krause her Life and Literature

Author(s): Shreeprakash Pandey
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Page 24

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regarding the sectarian quarrels in Jainas are worthy to note. She mentions “the Svetāmbaras and the Digambaras being still engaged in furious mutual quarrels about 'e possession of certain places of pilgrimage, such as Antariksa ( near Akola ), Pāvāpurī, Rājagshi, and Sammetaśikhara ( Bihar ), Keśarīyajī ( near Udaipur ) and Makşi ( near Ujjaina ) and others, millions have been spent in those fruitless strives. On the other hand, the idolatrous and two nonidolatrous Svetāmbara sect, viz. the Sthānakavāsīs and Terāpanthis are violently fighting each other about insignificant dogmatic discrepancies, whereas Digambaras too has its own troubles. Within the aforesaid sects there are again subsects, parties and schools of opinions which are not friendly with one another, but often enough cross each others schemes, the one spoiling, what positive work the other may have achieved. So there can be no doubt that stopping all these fruitless strives many power would become free to engage in the necessary work of caste-reform and uplift." It is to be noted that her remarks regarding Jaina society are still true and one can learn lesson from it. This essay is less a result of her research in Jainology than the reflections of a committed observer, who had lived in Jaina society with keeping his eyes on each and every activity of the society. Thus this article is an outcome of her minute observations and sincere reflections. The Hindi version of this article is also being published in this collection in its Hindi section.
In the sixth article of the English section “Pythagoras : The Vegetarian", Dr. Krause has enlightened us regarding the great Greek thinker Pythagoras and his vegetarianism. It shows that the vegetarianism is not only supported by Jainism alone. There were some great thinkers in Greek, contemporary to Mahāvīra, who preached the vegetarianism in the same fashion as Jainism do. It is worth mentioning that before Mahāvīra his predecessor Pārsva and Aristanemi also propounded the concept of vegetarianism in human society.
In the seventh essay of this volume "Siddhasena Divākara