Sramana 2016 01

Author(s): Shreeprakash Pandey, Rahulkumar Singh, Omprakash Singh
Publisher: Parshvanath Vidhyashram Varanasi

Page 99

92 : Sramaņa, Vol 67, No. 1, January-March 2016 bodied beings are divided into eight types"? -1. Andaja-born from an egg, as peacock etc., 2. Potaja-those born as fully formed infants are called potaja, as elephant etc., 3. Jarāyuja-those born with placenta are called Jarāyuja, as cow etc., 4. Rasaja-born out of liquid, as bacteria etc., 5. Sarnsvedaja-born out of sweat, as are louse, 6.Sammūrchim-of asexual origin or born spontaneously in various atmospheric combination, as are flies, mosquitos etc., 7. Udbhija those that burst out of the earth when born and 8. Aupapātika-born suddenly and fully formed instantaneously; like the hellish beings in hell-pot and gods in bed of flowers. These are the kind of trasa or mobile bodied beings. To refrain from the violence of mobile bodied jīvas, Mahāvīra says, 'he who uses weapons on mobile bodied beings is not free of sins (the blemish of harming and killing living beings)'. Again lord Mahāvīra says-“therefore knowing about this (the unexpressed suffering of beings) one (wise man) should not harm mobile-bodied being himself, neither make others do so, nor approve of other doing so and he who has properly understood the violence related to mobile-bodied being is a parijñāta-karmamuni (a discerning sage or an ascetic who with a discerning attitude abandons violence'.18
To conclude it can be said that the concept of non-violence of six bodied jīvas in Jainism is very affirmative. No other concept is nearest to this concept. Mahatma Gandhi clearly stated about the non-violence of Jainism in his own words “No religion of the world has explained the principle of non-violence so deeply and systematically, with its applicability in life as in Jainism.......Lord Mahāvīra is sure to be respected as the greatest authority on nonviolence" and again “I say with conviction that the doctrine for which the name of Lord Mahāvīra is glorified nowadays, is the doctrine of ahiṁsā. If anyone has practiced to the fullest extent and has propagated most the doctrine of ahiṁsā, it was Lord Mahāvīra”9
References:
tam pariņņāya mehāvi ņeva sayaṁ chhajjiva, nikāya-sattham samārambheijā nevnnehim chhajjiva-nikāya-satthaṁ samārambhhevajjā