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RELIGION
The author fiercely attacks the Buddhist practice of meateating by giving the logic that those who are in the habit of taking meat are to be called meat-eaters even when they take the vegetarian food; as such the Buddhists are the confirmed meat-takers.1 He further ironically remarks: "To say that a person is vegetarian in the absence of the meat-diet is quite similer to the belief that a person is not addicted to killing so long there is nothing to kill, or one is a celibate in the absence of the campany of women, or one abstains from meat and wine in the absence of the two, or that one is not a thief so long there is nothing to steal".2 The same spirit of contempt and hatred regarding the Buddhist practice of meat-eating can be judged from the works of the other Jaina authors. Somadeva in his rasastilaka contemptuously remarks: "Buddhists are the first among the communities which prescribe eating of flesh," "'s and also "How can a wise man respect the Buddhist who is addicted to flesh and wine ? It can be thus deduced that there must have been some laxity in matters of food and drink on the part of the Buddhists for which they were severely criticized by the contemporary Jaina authorities.
However, in spite of these unfavourable remarks from the pen of our Jaina authors regarding the Buddhists and their faith, it can be judged that the Buddhists commanded certain respect amongst the nobility and the public. Many of the Brāhmaṇical kings, though hostile towards the Jainas, were tolerant towards the Buddhists. The sanction given to the
and some of them even abstained from milk and milk products (Watters, op. cit., I, p. 57; Watters, op. cit., II, p. 191; Handiqui, op. cit., p. 373). The author of the NC., however, makes no such difference and meateating is described as a habit of the Buddhist monks in general. 1. णिप्पिसा वयं जाव पिसियस्स अलाभो त्ति - NC. 4, p. 273.
2. NC. 4, pp. 272-73.
3. Yasastilaka, VI. 2, p. 267; Handiqui, op. cit., p. 371. 4. Yalastilaka, VII. 24; Handiqui, op. cit., p. 372.
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