Book Title: Essence of Jainism
Author(s): Sukhlal Sanghavi
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

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Page 119
________________ Non-violence (4) The final purport of nonviolence ultimately lies in the thorough following of the orders of Jina, i.e., the Jain Scriptures. Jain (3) Absence of the fault of violence in the activities laid down by the Scriptures; i.e., violenca only in probibited acts. It should here be borne in mind that the Jain philosophers take only the prescriptions and prohibitions of the life of Sadhus to be the meaning of the word 'Scritpture'. The Vedic philosopher on the other hand, includes all the Scriptures in the word Scripture--sastra--wherein all duties--individual, family, social, religious, political etc., are laid down. Vedic (3) Absence of the fault of violence in the activities laid down by the Scriptures, i.e., violence only in prohibited acts. Jain Education International 95 (4) The final purport of nonviolence lies ultimately in obedience to the orders of the Vedas and the Smṛtis. [Dargan aur Cintan, pt. 2, pp. 412-417] Development of the Spirit of non-violence The Compassion of Neminatha man In the Nirgrantha tradition, Yadukumara Neminatha precedes Bhagavan Parśvanatha. The incidents of life of this great that we come across in the semi-historical stories woven round him, can easily be adjudged as a milestone with reference to the -spirit of non-violence as found in the Nirgrantha tradition. Even to day, the custom of feeding relatives and friends in the social festivals and marriages prevails. In those old days it was a custom to make community dinners attractive by slaughtering animals and preparing meals from their flesh; this custom was more prevalent with the Kṣatriyas. We are told that Nemikumāra simply melted with compassion just at the time of his marriage when he heard the painful cries of the deer and other animals to be slaugh For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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