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Chapter 14 Botanical Contents in Prākrta Canons
Plant kingdom forms the first variety of the worldly living in the middle portion of the Jaina universe. The plants represent the low level 1-sensed immobile or sessile living beings out of their two classes. They form about 38.6% of the total birth places and 14.2% of the total families of the living world. They include green grass, trees, creepers, shrubs, herbs, clusters, etc. All types of dry, wet, cut or uncut plants are called botanical species. They are primary products of the living world supporting higher life. They are called 'taru' or safeguard for calamities and 'pādapa' or growing through base or root actions. Amara Muni' has pointed out that plant kingdom has been important from :( a ) individual ( foods and medicines ), (b) social ( environments ), (c) non-violence ( vegetarianism ) and (d) livelihood point of view. The trees have been associated with many attainments of the past great men ( like attaining perfect knowledge under sāla, bața or Bodhi trees ) and their sermonisation in gardens. Many names are associated with trees like Jambū-island, Dhātakikhanda island, and Asoka tree as special glorification of Jaina lords. It is said that people planting trees earn names. The afforestation festival has been a noted affair in the past.
Jaina scholars have studied plants and other living beings from two angles :( a ) physical and (b) moral. The religious literature describes them mainly on the basis of their ethical values. Nevertheless, it contains sufficient description in physical terms about them. A large amount of details are found regarding the available plants, their classification and identification. They have been described under disquisition doors of many types. Table 1 gives some canonical informa
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