Studies in Jainology Prakrit Literature and Languages

Author(s): B K Khadabadi
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

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Studies in Jainology, Prakrit
gobamhanitthivadhamettiniyatti jadi have paramadhammo | paramo dhammo kiha so na hoi jā savva bhūda-dayā |||
If abstention from killing merely the cow, the Brahmin and the woman could make one religion supreme, why could not another religion, with compassion unto all beings, be accepted as supreme?
And lastly, we cannot afford to ignore Śivarya's exemplification of social cquality and corrigible opportunity for any violent culprit, admitted by the practice of ahimsa in Jainism, through an illustration of thc story of a candāla, who was thrown in the Śimsumāra region of hell, but who, later, was worshipped by gods for observing the vow of ahimsā for a short time.
In conclusion, we can note : This portion of the text in the Mūlaradhana presents a panoramic view of the various facets of the theory and practice of ahinisā as a great vow. One of the gahäso contains the basic concept of ahimsä in Jainism - almost an indirect and distant echo of Lord Mahavira's words on ahimsā. By liberally using illustrations etc., rather than often advancing logical arguments, the author, who is a master of cononical knowledge as well as a skilled teacher, imprints on our mind the great, all comprising, all pervading, pivotal, universal and positive nature of ahimsā in the system of the ascetic (and also partly applicable to the lay) conduct. Hence there is no wonder if some of the above cited gahas prominently appear under the topic of ahinsa in the recent learned compilations iike the Jinavāni' and encyclopaedic works like the Jainendra Siddhānta Kosa.22