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MEDIEVAL JAINISM : CULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT
grass and must not walk on the surface of the earth laden with flower, fruits and seeds. The prayer and 'yoga' place or Sadhna venue of the 'Tirthankaras' has always been tree. It enriched the importance of forests and proved to be main source of antipollution. It is climax of the conservation of vegetation. The Vriksha, i.e., tree has been considered a gamout of the attitudes of humanbeing in Jaina Siastra. Ieshya Vriksha indicates 6 attitudes of human beings.
Jain Philosophy of Life
The life can be divided into two divisions, viz., Biotic and Abiotic. Biotic means flora, i.e., vegetation and abiotic means all other sorts of life. The Biotic means Triyanchi. The Indriya character provides any thing the life. There are five Indriyas, viz., tongue, nose, body, eyes and ears. Tongue tastes the things, nose smells, eyes see, ears hear and body provides the physical appearance. On this basis following are the five types of lives1. Panchendriya having all the five characters. Such life, is known as “human being'. 2. Coindriya—Life having fóur indriyas, viz., tongue, nose, body, and eyes as snake. 3. Teindriya—Tongue, nose and body as aunt etc. 4. Beindriya---Tongue and body as Lat, i.e., ringlet. 5. Ekeindriya--having only body, i.e., grass or vegetation.
With ekenidriya character vegetation is full of life. It is more than life because it absorbs the carbon-di-oxide, the poisonous gas and discharges life giving gas, i.e., oxygen.
According to Jain philosophy, vegetation is full of life and basic ethic of the religion is not to kill any living being as Acharanga speaks
सव्ये पाणा सव्वेभूता सब्वे जीवा सव्वे सत्ता ण हंतव्वा ।'
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