________________
[ 30 ]
prohibition of flesh food, which apart from other defects, must necessarily involve destruction of life was based on the grounds of universal compassion and the doctrine of Karma. And the Buddha seems to have been fully conscious of this thing and accordingly preached Ahimsa without reservation, at least in theory.
If there are these noteworthy and obvious common features between Jainism and Buddhism, there are some deep rooted differences too between the two systems. Their approach towards certain fundamental problems, such as the nature of soul, conceptions of deliverance and salvation and some other metaphysical, ontological and epistemological beliefs are widely divergent. The pre-Mahavira traditions preserved by the Jains also do not tally with the pre-Buddha traditions preserved by the Buddhists. If the Jains lay particular stress on severe austerties and penances as the means to purifying and perfecting the soul, the Buddha recommended the middle path, avoiding the extremes of sensualism and asceticism. Lastly, Buddhism very early exhibited a tremendous energy for proselytisation and spread, within less than a millenium of its founders nirvana, over the greater part of Asia and succeeded in covering the majority of the then civilized and semi-civilized population of the world, but could not prevent itself from almost total extinction from the land of its birth. Jainism, on the other hand, never showed much large scale proselytising activity, and seldom penetrated beyond the frontiers of the subcontinent, but here it deffused in all parts of the country and in all classes of the people. For a considerable time it came to exercise great influence and stood as a formidable rival to Hinduism. Moreover, it has continued to be a living force in this country to this day.
Jainism, or the religion of the Jains who are the followers of the Jina (the conqueror), an epithet used for the Tirthankaras (including Mahavira), has also been known as the Śramana, Nirgrantha or Arhata dharma (or creed). In its essential nature Jainism is an ethical religion par excellence, and aims at the individuals salvation which
