Mahavira His Life and Teachings

Author(s): Bimla Charn Law
Publisher: Luzac and Co UK

Page 88

TEACHINGS
81
of keeping certain vows (vatena) as prescribed. According to the Sūtrakrtānga, the upholders of vinayavāda are those who assert The goal of religious life is realized by confirmation to the rules of discipline'. 'Some say that perfection is reached by abstaining from the seasoner of food (salt), others by the use of cold water (by ablutions), others again by (tending) a fire.'2
The types of kriyāvāda that do not come up to the standard of Jainism are two in number
(1) The soul of him who is pure will become free from bad karman on reaching beatitude, but in that state it will again become defiled through pleasant excitement or hatred. As clear water which is free from defilement becomes again defiled, so will be the soul ®
(2) If a man with the intention of killing a baby hurts a gourd, mistaking it for a baby, he will be guilty of murder If, on the other hand, a man with the intention of roasting a gourd roasts a baby, mistaking him for a gourd, he will not be guilty of murder This is the view of the Buddhist with whom intention is the criterion of the moral guilt or innocence in man's action
1 Sūtrakrtānga, I, 12 4 8 Ibid , 1, 1. 3 II, 12.
2 Ibid., I, 7 12. * Ibid., II, 6 26, 27.