Idea of Ahimsa and Asceticism in Ancient Indian Tradition

Author(s): Bansidhar Bhatt
Publisher: B J Institute

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REFORM RELIGIONS....
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Silanka in his prose commentary in Sanskrit on the Ā yara has left the above-stated sutras (403-404, etc.) unexplained, but his remark on them suggests that he believed the satras not meant for actually the meat or fish as such, since meat, fish, etc. are clearly against the ahim sa ideal, accordingly, he interprets the words : mamsa and maccha (meat and fish) for some medicines prescribed against diseases like lata (? a kind of cutaneous disease, said to be produced by the moisture from a spider ?) It is most likely that Silanka got an idea of medicinal use of meat and fish from the Āyara-Carņi in which the acceptance of meat and fish is sanctioned on a medical ground, e.g. cf.
evam mamsa-satram api neyam asya côpa da nam kvacil latådyupa-samanårtham sad-vaidyôpadeśato bahya-paribhogena svedå dina jnanâ dyupa karakatvat phalavad dřstam.
(Ă yara-Silanka. p.236)
But Haribhadra (ca. 8th cent. AD, in Cittore, Rajasthan) is more faithful in interpreting the verses 73, 84-85 of the Dasaveyaliya (see above). In his prose commentary in Sanskrit on the said verses, he affirmatively stated the fact that poggala and animisa stand for meat and fish respectively, though they do not suit to the ahim sa ideal. Further he mentioned views of others who, to suit to the ahimsa ideal, twisted the normal meaning, and explained the words metaphoric for some fruits, etc.
(f) The Mahavira and meat-eating :
The other instance of meat-eating has aroused severe dispute among many scholars and the traditionalists. It is related to a statement in the Viya hapannatti Ch.15 about the Mahavira himself and the meat-eating. The story tells us that the Mahavira. having got an attack of bilious fever in the Salakotthaya sanctuary, sent his disciple Siha to a woman Revai at Mendhiya-gama with an instruction to fetch from her the cooked meat of a cock which was killed by a cat, instead of bringing the two pigeons which she had specially prepared for him - the Mahavira :
... tattha nam Revale ga havaiņie mamam atthae duve kavoyasarira uvakkhadiya, tehim no attho. atthi' se anne pariya sie majja ra-kadae kukkuda-mamsae, tam aha rahi, eeņam att ho.
(Viya hapannatti-JA gS. 15.121, pp.729-730)
The only available Sanskrit prose commentary on this canoni
cal passage is written by Abhayadeva (in Dharapuri, near Gujarat