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JAINA THEORY AND PRACTICE OF NON-VIOLENCE
The Vedic tradition upto the Upanisads did not bother about the theory and practice of non-violence (ahimsā). Even the word ahimsă is not found in the Vedas and the Brāhmanas; it is found, for the first time, in the Upanisad (Chā. 3.17.4)1 The religion of the Vedas mainly consisted of the sacrifices; and there were many types of the Vedic sacrifices which could not be performed without the killing of animals. Even the Smrtis enforce the householders to serve not only the animal-meat but the beaf to the guests. In such circumstances it would be proper to say that the theory and practice of ahimsä were not of the Vedic origin, but were propounded by the Jainas, the Buddhists and other śramanas. In his 'Man in the Universe' Prof. W. Norman Brown rightly concludes that “The ideas Ahimsa and the unity of all life did not have their origin in Vedic Aryan thought, but entered it from outside. The environment in which those ideas were at home was that of Jainism and Buddhism. In them Ahimsā was a dominant and original, not supplemental, feature".2 Here in this short paper I want to discuss the Ahimsā doctrine of the Jainas in theory and practice.
As far as the literary evidence is concerned we can say that Lord Mahāvīra seems to be the first person who was convinced that not only the mankind but all the moving and non-moving living beings should be protected and should not be harmed because he was convinced that each of them, just like any human being, does not want any harm to be done to it, And not only this, Mahāvīra is the first person who endeavoured to mould his life in such a way that he may not be willingly harmful to any one. This is quite clear when we read his life as is described in the Ācārānga, the oldest Jaina text.
He preached to the people his conviction in these words : "All beings are fond of life, like pleasure, hate pain, shun destruction, like life, long to live. To all, life is dear." In order to emphasize this conviction the Ācārānga declares that : The Arhatas and Bhagavatas of the past, present, and future, all say thus, speak thus, declare thus, explain thus; all breathing, existing, living, sentient
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