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Vol. XVII, No. 4
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greed which is a form of violence, and hence gifts made to a worthy recepient amount to a renunciation of voilence.21 Greed is one of the impulses behind violence and therefore the absence of greed reduces violence. A Jaina would make a gift or refuse to accept one, in order to rid himself of greed, which always involves violence for both oneself and others.'32
Asteya and aparigraha often occur in Jaina literature in an extreme form and it is doubtful whether in such cases they are components of ahiṁsā. A Jaina sūtra says about a mendicant :
He should beg for which he wants and which are permitted by the religious code. He should wear the clothes in the same state in which they are given to him. He should neither wash and dye them, nor should he wear washed and dyed clothes. 23
Such observations are made in Jaina scriptures. It is needless to quote further example, Sometimes it seems that asteyu and aparigraha have been held to be intrinsic values.
The Jainas have extended non-violence towards sub-human beings on a larger scale than any other religious community in the world. Purusārtha-siddhyupāya remarks that those who desire to avoid violence should first of all take care to renounce wine, flesh, and five udumbar (fig) fruits. 24 It is peculiar to Jaina vegetarianism that Jains are conscious of the trio living beings which are present in all kinds of food. One should not eat fresh butter, because it is the birth place of numerous jīvas.25 The Jainas even explain the prohibition of wine as a nicessary act of non-violence. Wine stupefies a man and stupefied man is prone to admit acts of violence. 26
We may conclude that the Jainas have taken vegetarianism to its extreme conclusions. No other religious community in India has gone so far as to avoid killing any kind of living creature for food. The great number of different rules and taboos appear to show an attempt to cultivate vegetarianism without a sense of proportion.
The puruşārtha siddyapāya says that those, who after listening to the doctrine of ahimsā, are not able to renounce the violence of immobile beings, should at least give up the violence of mobile beings. 27 It is admitted that householders enjoying in an approved way have to injure a limited number of one-sensed beings but that they should desist from causing the destruction of other immobile beings.26 Jaina non-violence means, in the first place, the nonkilling of organic life, but it is not altogether confined to physical non-destruction.29 A householder can practise ahiṁsā towards subhuman beings in more flexible way. He can exploit animals but not
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