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JAINISM
and five-sensed living organisms. The stricter adherence prescribed for the ascetic is known as the mahāvrata and the less scrupulous observance expected of a house-holder is referred to as aņuvrata.
The Jainas were extremely critical of the Buddhists' being allowed to eat meat on the ground that they themselves did not kill the animals but that they were getting the meat from the butchers. The Jaina view is that but for the meat-eaters the butchers themselves would not indulge in the evil act of killing the animals and that such meat-eaters are responsible (though indirectly) for killing. The Jainas were equally critical of the Hindu practice of sacrificing animals in their ritualistic observance on the ground that sacrifices involving deliberate killing of animals was an unethical act, though done in the name of religion.
Satya : (Truth-speaking)
This is the second virtue to be practised by all people. In the case of the house-holder the strict observance of the principle is not insisted. The spirit of the principle is all that needs to be followed.8 Ahiṁsā or non-violence being the most important virtue to be followed, all other virtues are to be observed in such a way that the principle of non-violence is not broken. In a situation where trut speaking would lead to violence or killing, as for example revealing the place in which a man is hiding (to escape from the robbers who are intent on killing), uttering falsehood deliberately is considered perfectly ethical. In this case the outcome of uttering lying speech is the avoidance of killing and, as such it is preferable to speaking the truth and becoming instrumental to violence or killing. Similarly when an animal is hiding under a bush which the hunter has not noticed, the individual is not expected to reveal the truth lest the animal should be killed.
8 The Jaina philosophers were very much alive to the fact that in his every day life ihe house-holder cannot avoid all words which will hurt--and 'entangle him and so cannot avoid asutya....especially in regard to his house-hold, profession and security of life. So exceptions were made in regard to these and avoidance of falsehood in regard to all other aspects was all that was advocated as constituting the essence of satya. Negatively truthfulness consisted in avoiding exaggeration, fault-finding and indecent speech; positively it consisted in speaking beneficial, balanced and nobļe words.
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