Lessons of Ahimsa and Anekanta for Contemporary Life

Author(s): Tara Sethia
Publisher: California State Polytechnic University Pomona

Page 23

Lessons of Ahimsä and Anekänta for Contemporary Life
living beings (jīva-daya). 18 The Digambara author āśādhara, in his Sagara-dharmāmrta, declares that “compassion is the root of the whole sacred doctrine."19
It is clear from examining selected passages in classical Jain texts that compassion is associated with appropriate conduct for both mendicants and laity. Is it possible, then, for actions undertaken by those who lack samyak-darśana, in other words, by those who hold a false view of reality (mithyādrsti), to be informed by compassion, as understood in these textual sources? This question is addressed by the Digambara author Vidyānanda in his commentary on TS 1.2. He writes that the qualities of samvega and anukampā are not possible for those who have the wrong views or mithyādrsți. Although I have been unable to locate a similar statement on this matter in the Svetāmbara commentaries, there is a passage in the Śvetāmbara Daśavaikālika-sūtra that reflects a similar point of view: “First knowledge, then compassion, those who observe total restraint [i.e., mendicants] live thus.920 Therefore, according to these sources, humans, heavenly beings, and five-sensed rational animals who have attained a proper view of reality can have, and do have, compassion for others, as understood in Jainism.
Although the Jain doctrine of ahimsā is based on rational consciousness or a proper view of reality (samyaktva), compassion is an appropriate expression of this spiritual progress. While it is true that spiritual progress entails individual responsibility, this does not preclude a “social fellow-feeling” of compassion. And while the ultimate goal may be individual
18 Ratna-karanda-śravakācāra - v.21, as cited in Williams, op. cit., p. 108.
19 Sagara-dharmāmsta i.4, as cited in Williams, op. cit., p. 42.
20Kastur Chand Lalwani (trans.), Daśavaikälika-sūtra (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1973), p. 10.
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