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D.N. Bhargava, Some Observations on Buddhist and Jaina Ethics
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being too comfortable." The Jainas, however, distinguish themselves in the severest austerities. In the beginning of his career Lord Buddha also performed such austerities; but gave them up later on realising that they were not useful for enlightenment. Even then, some of his followers continued to practise such austerities under the name of dhūtāngas. 12 In fact, we find traces of distinction between those Bhikkhus who were hermits and loved solitary lives in the woods and those who moved about in bands, frequenting rest houses. This distinction, later on, led to the schism in the form of Hinayāna, which laid more emphasis on the love of solitude, and Mahāyāna which laid more emphasis on the universal compassion towards the suffering creatures.
In the history of Jainism, however, the penance has held throughout an essential position in the scheme of ethics. The Uttarādhyayana says: “As a large tank, when its supply of water has been stopped gradually, dries up by the consumption of water and by evaporation, so the Karman of a monk, which he has acquired in crores of births, is annihilated by austerities."14
Non-violence is the most important characteristic of asceticism. If suffering is an evil, it is also an evil to inflict suffering on others. So far, both the traditions of Śramanism agree. But keeping with the general trend, the Jainas went to the extreme in this case also. Buddha allowed pure meat which is not seen, nor heard, nor supposed to be prepared, even though Devadatta, who was an advocate of dhūtāngas requested him to restrict admission to his order only to vegetarians. Though a controversy whether Mahāvīra allowed meat or not is carried on by some scholars like Pandita Sukhalāla Samghavi, yet by and large the creed of non-violence in Jainism seems to be irreconcilable with flesh eating.
But this seems to be rather a minor difference because Lord Buddha also prohibited moving about of the monks in the rainy season and cutting of even trees and grass out of regard for life, which shows that he was no less particular about non-violence. We should avoid inflicting of misery on others but are we under any obligation to alleviate the miseries of others also? Sāntideva says that the world is just like a body, the constituents of which are like its limbs and the happiness of the one part belongs to the whole :
11 Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XLV, p. 269. 12 Samyuttanikāya, Vol. II, pp. 132-133. 13 Eliott, Sir Charles, Hinduism and Buddhism, Vol. I, p. 242. 14 Uttarādhyayana, 30.5. 15 Cullavagga, 1.5. 16 Sukhalāla, Darśana aura Cintana, Jain Dharma aur darśana, pp. 70-71. 17 Mahāvagga, 3.2.2. 18 Dīghanikāya, 1.5.
