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MEDIEVAL JAINISM : CULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT
prohibited by Jain writers on account of non-violent principles. In Dharmabindu and Upamitibhavaprapancakatha, the use of these means is prohibited.
Respectable Vocations
On being asked by Mayaditya, Sthanu described following noble means which have also been sanctioned by the rishis-Risihimeyam pura bhaniyam (57.23)
1. Going from one place to another (Disi gamanam)
There are many references to this means in the work. Mayaditya, Dhanadev, Sagardatta etc. The sons of merchants, have earned money by going to other countries. The references to the assemblage of merchants of eighteen countries at one place points to first fact (152.24). In contemporary literature one comes across many references of this kinds.
To go to other countries for business purposes was profitable from many points of view. A man could carry on business wholeheartedly and fearlessly living away from the cares and worries of the home. One could attract the people there by his way of living and the main thing was that a man could earn a lot by selling the home-made goods at other places at fancy prices and buying the goods of those places at cheap prices and selling them in his own country at high prices. Apart from this a man gathered a lot of experience of interstate trade guilds. Young merchants got an opportunity to earn money by their own efforts for which they always remained eager-annam apuvvam attham aharami bahu balenam (65.10).
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