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Ho Merata-raie sal
“Naw might I do it pat, now he is praying;
And now I will do it And so he gocs to heaven".
Unlike Hamlet, he may not be prevented by any counter consideration and with the sole intention of sending the man to heaven, he kills bim while he is devoutly praying Vould the act of murder be meritorious be cause the intention behind it is faultless An imphatic "No" is the answer of the Jain moralists A prayerful man will rcap the fruits of bus actions sooner or later, but why should you soil your hands with his blood? Killing in any form, out of any motive, whatsoever is reprehcnsible,
The great apostle of Ahimasā in modern India killed a all just to termi. nate its miseries, it had an incurable disease and was suffering from a terrible pain. Now, was his act morally justifiable ? Actually, there was a great controversy upon the matter So far as the Jaina moralists are concerned, they would condemn the act opreservedly A being suffers as a result of his past actions. You cannot put an end to bis miseries abruptly killing bum. If the effects of his actions are not exhausted, he is still to suffer in his, IC-Incarnation. Then, why should you kill bim?
It is generally accepted as a proposition of unchallengeable force that killing of ferocious animals which kill numerous creatures daily and are a source of perpetual ave, is morally justifiable The Jains contend on the contrary that past Karmas make creatures suffer You should believe this firmly. No doubt you should try to alleviate their miseries as much as possible but you should not kill any living being, eper though it 18 ferocious
Ancient Indian culture is loud in praising the act of the legendary Ling Sibs, who is reported to have cut the fiesh of his own body in order to feed a hungry and voracious bird The Jain moralists, however, condemn such acts Their grounds are (1) A carnivorous animal 18 not the proper guest for charity, (2) to make a gift of flesh is irreligious, and lastly (3) to kill or give pain to one's own self is morally bad.
It 18 well-known that the Jains condemned the practice of the followers of the Vedic School, of killing animals at the aitar to please the gods Ther condemned also the practice of killing animals for the dishes of Atitbis or guests. The Jains criticaed the arguements of those people who thought, was better to kill one big animal instead of killing a number of orgal! animals,
It cannot be denied that one may sometimes feel difficulty in Wandering through the intricacies of the Jain arguments about the absolute refraining from the killing of animals One may ask if giving pain to one's ovoself (to wit body ) 18 Himsā, how is it that the Jain scriptures recommend various
