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FEARLESSNESS Esā sā bhagavai ahimsā jā sā bhīyāņam viva saraṇam, pakkhīņam viva gamaņaí, tisiyāņaṁ viva salilam, khuhiyāņam viva asanam, samuddamajjhe va poyavahanam, caupayāņam va āsamapayam, duhatthiyāņam va osahibalam, adavīmajjhe va satthagamaņam eso visitțhatariyā ahimsā jā sā pudhavī-jala-aganimāruya-vaņassai-bīya-hariya-jala-yara-thalayara-khahayura-tasathāvara savvabhūya-khemankari || - Praśnavyākaraṇa sūtra, 2.1.3.
That is, – This goddess ahiṁsā (non-violence) is the shelter for the frightened creatures of the world; for the birds it is like flying in the sky; for the thirsty it is like water; for the hungry it is like food; for the drowning it is like a ship; for the animals it is like their stables; for the sick it is like medicine; for those traveling through dense forests it is like moving with a caravan. Goddess ahimsā is more special than all these. It protects even the finest of the fine creatures of the earthbodied, the water-bodied, the fire-bodied, the air-bodied and the vegetation-bodied creatures, it also protects the seed-borne creatures, the greenery-borne creatures, the water-borne life, the air-borne life and the earthly living beings of the immovable and the moving categories.
Comments - The fact that non-violence delivers all creatures from fear and provides them an assurance of protection can be discerned and appreciated from the abovementioned aphorism from the Praśnavyākaraṇa sūtra.
Abhao patthivā tujjham abhayadāyā bhavāhi ya Aņicce jīvalogammi, kim himsāe pasajjasi? ||
- Uttarādhyayana sūtra, 18.11. That is, - O king! I free you from fear and you, too, must provide freedom from fear to the others. What use is being violent in this ineternal world of the living?
Comments - In the eighteenth chapter of the Uttarādhyayana sūtra, we come across the story of the hunting expedition of king
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