Book Title: Prolegomena to Prakritica et Jainica
Author(s): Satyaranjan Banerjee
Publisher: Asiatic Society

Previous | Next

Page 181
________________ 164 PROLEGOMENA TO PRAKRITICA et JAINICA yupam khittvā pasūn hatvā kṛtvā ridhira kardamam/ yadyevam gamyate svargam narake kena gamyate || "By digging a yupa, killing animals, and making muddy with blood, if anybody goes to heaven by this method, then who will go to hell"? In the Uttarakhanda of the Padmapurāna we come across a passage where the goddess Durga praises the doctrine of ahimsā. But in the other Purāņa texts, ahimsa is also praised as one of the best ways of social behaviour. For example, in the Bhāgavata the killing of animal even in the sacrifice is vilified to a great extent as the following verse shows : ye tvanevamvido' santaḥ stabdhaḥ sadabhimaninaḥ | paśun druhyanti visrabdhāḥ pretya khādanti te ca tan // [11. 5. 14] "Those who are ignorant of this real Dharma and, though wicked and haughty, account themselves virtuous, kill animals without any feeling of remorse or fear of punishment, and are devoured by those very animals in their next birth." Ahimsa in the Tantrik texts Even in the Tantrik texts some praises of ahimsā are found. For example, in the Kulārṇava-tantra the drinking of wine (sura) is extolled in the most extravagant manner, and the eating of meat is permissible only in the Kulapūjā, even though the non-killing (ahimsa) is honoured elsewhere. This shows an exception to the rule of ahimsă. Śankarācārya on Ahimsa In the eighth century A.D. Sankarācārya in his Sarvavedanta-siddhanta-sāra praised ahimsā as a noble virtue. He says

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248