Pearls of Jaina Wisdom

Author(s): Dulichand Jain
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Page 24

[ XXII]
māteva sarva-bhūtānāmahiṁsā hitakāriņi. ahiṁsāiva hi saṁsāramarāvamsta-săranih. ( 2.50 ) ahimsā duḥkha-dāvāgni prāvrsenya ghanävali. bhava-bhrami rugārtānāṁ ahimsā paramausadhi. ( 2.51 )
“Ahimsā is beneficient to all creatures, like a mother, in the desert of saṁsāra ( mundane life ), ahimsā works like a stream of nectar to the forest fire, ahimsā is a course of rain-clouds, for the beings tormented by the disease, ( ahimsā) is the best healing herb; and ahiṁsā is called the perpetual return of existence."
At the end Hemacandra thinks that protection to all animal beings ( abhayadāna or karuņādāna ) is the positive side of ahiṁsā which everyone should follow.
Apart from the textual citations, there are historical references as well. In days of hoary antiquity, there were Jaina rulers. It is said that the emperor Chandragupta Maurya of Magadha was a Jaina and the king Khāravela of Kalinga was also a Jaina ruler who preached the doctrine of ahińsā in his kingdom. After Jayasimha, Kumārapāla became the king of Gujarat. He was initiated into Jainism in 1159 A. D. by Hemacandra. After that he made the Jaina religion a state religion in his country. He himself abandoned hunting and prohibited the killing of animals, meat eating, consuming alcohol, gambling and animal combat. Besides these, there are some other rulers in medieval period who were mainly responsible for the promotion of Jaina religion. We have rulers like Rājā Amoghavarşa of Karnataka, Vastupāla and Tejapāla of Gujarat who were pre-eminent for the propagation of Jaina faith. The pages of history have not forgotten the three illustrious and outstanding ministers of Karnataka who were Chāmundā-Rāya of Ganga King Rājamalla IV (974-984 A. D. ), Ganga Rājā of Hoysala King Vişnuvardhana ( 1108-1142 A.D.) and Hulla Rāja of Hoysala Monarch Narasimha I ( 1142-1173 A.D.). Such types of instances can be ransacked from the pages of
history.
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