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Comments - The characteristics of the wise monk in the know of various forms that violence towards the living set of six categories can take are important from the point of view of granting a gift of fearlessness to the living beings of the set.
VIOLENCE TOWARDS ALL CATEGORIES OF LIVING BEINGS IS NOT EQUAL
Egam isim haṇamāne aṇante jive hanai - Bhagavati, 9.34.
Anyone that kills a sage is, in a way, guilty of killing infinite number of living beings.
Comments From the consideration of violence, the stage of development or evolution, from the points of view of the vitalities, senses, knowledge, etc., at which a particular living being is, is very important. The violence towards a more developed creature is more deplorable as compared to that towards a less developed creature. In this connection the example of Hasti tāpasa given in Sūtrakṛtānga (2.6.52-53) is also worth consideration.
NON-VIOLENCE: THE MEANS OF LIBERATION FROM PAIN AND MISERY
Uddhe ahe tiriyam ca, je kei tasa-thāvarā |
Savvattha viratim kujjā, santi nivvāṇaṁ āhiyaṁ ||
- Sūtrakṛtānga, 1.11.11. One must refrain from violence towards all the moving and the nonmoving creatures in the upper, lower and the middle parts of the universe. USEFULNESS OF AUSPICIOUS ACTIVITIES
Asuhādo viņivittī, suhe pavitti ya jāṇa cārittaṁ ||
- Acarya Nemicandra. Refraining from inauspicious activities and indulgence in the auspicious ones is the right conduct.
Bhaṇantā akarenta ya, bandha mokkhapainninno
Vāyāviriyametteṇa, samāsāsenti appayam ||
Appendices
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- Uttaradhyayana, 6.10.
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