________________
194 : śramaņa, Vol 58, No. 2-3/April-September 2007
(1) से भिक्खू वा भिक्खूणि वा से ज्जं पुण जाणेज्जा । Oh monk or nun, again know by this. 18
नाहं रमे पक्खिणि पज्जरे वा Like a bird shut up in a cage which does not feel happy."
The said sentence as afu T, Hai au 250C TI if arranged in syntactical order will run as follows: - मच्छं वा बहु कंटगं वा बहुअट्ठियं HA (UT STEWT) and which means (Do not accept) the soft pulp of a fruit containing many seeds or anything hard like the fish bone.
Thus taking the first af as a particle showing comparison and the second at as a conjunction and making no change in the meaning of Fees and Od, we can derive from this sentence a meaning quite consistent with the fundamental principle of Jainism viz., 'Ahimsā'. It can be seen from the above statement that the above phrase refers to vegetarian food only and not to fish or meat-eating as is thought by the critics.
In the remaining part of the above quotation af is used at some places and at others it is omitted. It is, therefore, more befitting to translate that part also by way supplying the ellipsis.
In this sentence at is used in its two different meanings in close proximity and this practice is not infrequent in the scriptures.
एवं बहुहिं कयपुव्वं, भोगत्थाए जेऽभियावत्रा। दासे मिइव पेसे वा, पसुभूतेव से ण वा केइ।।
One, who is blind in love of a woman and who for the satisfaction of one's passions, does all the sinful actions, is like a slave, a deer, a menial, a dumb driven creature or the humblest of the humble.
Our contention is not about the use of the words, but the meanings or interpretation of the words used. It is only the etymology and syntactical rules, as well as the common practice or usage in language and last but not the least the context, which help us to arrive at the correct interpretation of a word.
