________________
PADMAPRABHACARITRA
297 In the two-sensed state, the pūtara,"1 etc. are burned and drunk; insects are crushed by feet and devoured by sparrows, etc. Conchs, etc. are dug up and dragged from their water-home; worms, etc. are made to fall from the stomach by medicine, etc.
Even when the three-sensed state has been reached, lice, bugs, etc. are crushed by the body and burned by hot water. Ants are bruised by feet and brooms; the kunthu,44% etc. unseen, are destroyed by seats, etc.
The bee, black bee, etc. with four senses are injured by honey-eaters by blows with sticks, clods, etc. Gnats, mosquitoes, etc. are soon beaten with fans, etc. ; flies and spiders are devoured by house-lizards, etc.
The water-creatures with five senses devour each other eagerly ; they are caught by fishermen and swallowed by cranes, etc. They are opened by persons skinning them, and are roasted on spits. They are cooked by people wishing to eat them and melted by people seeking grease.
Born among land-creatures, the weak, the deer, etc. are killed by the stronger, such as the lion, that desire their flesh. Innocent animals are killed by men, whose minds are devoted to hunting for sport and from desire for meat, by various means. They endure pain from hunger, thirst, cold, heat, imposition of excessive burdens, etc., and from blows with horse-whips, elephant-goads and oxgoads.
Birds, partridges, parrots, doves, sparrows, etc. are devoured by hawks, falcons, vultures, etc., greedy for their flesh. They are killed by hunters eager for their flesh, after they have caught them by a multitude of devices and by assuming various forms. How can animals' universal fear, arising from water, fire, weapons, etc., originating in bondage to their respective karmas, be described ?
4 114. A small water-creature. PH s.v. ; Haim. VIII. I. 170.
112 117. A very small insect, frequently used as a synonym of invisibility.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
