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That is, - Where there is mercy, there is dharma; where there is sensory control, there is penance; one who is without eighteen flaws is undoubtedly the Lord. Dharmaḥsharmakaram dayāgunamayam |
- Ātmānuśāsana, 7. That is, – The dharma with mercy gives happiness and pleasure
Pavitrikriyate yena yenaivoddhriyate jagat | Namastasamai dayārdrāya dharmakalpānghripāya vai ||
- Jñānārņava Dharmabhāvanā, 1. That is, - My obeisance to the celestial desire fulfilling tree that is dharma that purifies the world, and that delivers it and that is full of the juices of mercy.
Comments – The abovementioned quotes conclusively prove that mercy is the root of the tree of dharma. To consider mercy as abandonable and deplorable is against the Jaina precepts and the faith propounded by Bhagvān Mahāvīra. The Kārtikeyānupreksā mentions one of the characteristics of dharma as protecting the living. It means that protecting the living is dharma. In the form of compassion, mercy is one of the virtues inherent in right vision. A person endowed with right vision can never be cruel. For those who talk a lot about knowledge but do not act in the cause of mercy and dharma, it has been said,
Uñānam bhāraḥ kriyā vinā' meaning that without appropriate and due conduct knowledge is nothing but dead weight. Jīvavaho appavaho, jīvadayā appaņo dayā hoi Il
- Bhaktaparijñā, 93. That is, - Killing another living being is like killing the self and to act mercifully towards him is like acting mercifully towards the self. Jassa dayā tassa guņā, jassa dayā tassa uttamo dhammo !
Jassa dayā so patto, jassa dayā so jae pujjo || Jassa dayā so tavassī, jassa dayā tassa silasampatti |
Jassa dayā so nāni, jassa dayā tassa nivvānar 11
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Positive Non-Violence
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