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the Śramanic tradition, such as Jainism and Buddhism. It is on this ground, they differ from early Vedic-religion. The early Vedic seers are against asceticism and emphasized the material welfare of the individual and the society. They in their hymns were praising world existence and praying for their own health and wealth as well as of their fellow beings while the Sramaņas were condemning this worldly existence and propounding the theory that this world of existence is full of suffering and ultimate goal of human life is to get rid of the cycle of birth and death. Austerity, renunciation, emancipation, atheism, supremacy of human beings over gods, equality of all living beings, opposition to the supremacy of Brahmins over other casts as well as the opposition to animal sacrifices and emphasis on moral virtues and higher values of life are some of the fundamental spiritual tendencies of Śramanic traditions in general and Jainism in particular. These concepts which were absent in earliest form of vedic religion were contributed by the śramaņas to Indian culture.
Does Jainism teach the Negation of Life?
In Jainism more stress is given on austerities and renunciation of worldly enjoyments with the result that there is a wide-spread misconception that it teaches the negation of life. It will, therefore, not be irrelevant here to point out that the applause of austerities and renouncement does not imply non-recognition of physical and material life. The recognition of spiritual values does not mean that physical and material values snould be completely rejected. According to Jainism, physical values are not hindrances to spiritual development, but are rather subservient to it. It is mentioned in the Niśithabhāsya (4159) that. "Knowledge leads to salvation, the body leads to knowledge and food leads to the nutrition of) body." The body is a vessel that ferries a person to the shore of eternal bliss. From this point of view, fulfillment of bodily needs has both value and importance, the body is means to liberation and therefore deserves care. But it must be noted that our attention should be fixed not on the vessel-the means, but on the shore-- the end to which it leads. As the vessel, body is a means and not an end. The recognition of physical and material values of life as means is at the core of jainism and its entire spirituality. Here we have a line of demarcation indicating the
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