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of the chapter is the exposition of the equality of all souls, starting from the earth-bodied beings which resemble the soul in human beings'. There is no discrimination about the nature of soul, the distinction being only in respect of the degree of their knowledge, intuition etc. owing to the difference in the karmic veils that cover or distort them. 1.17 lajjamānā pudho pása. Look at self-restrained people, ashamed of their violent activities. Bhajyam Sutra 17 Look at the people who are ashamed of violence, because it is a form of nonrestraint: they refrain from violence. Some people among the multitude worldly life and abstain from injury to earth-bodied organisms. This is indicated in next sutra. 1.18 añagārå motti ege pavayamāņå. 1.19 jaminam viruvarūvehimsalthehim pudhavi-kamma-samara
mbhenam pudhavi-sattham samārambhcmāņe anne vanegarūve
pane vihinsati. 11.18. 1.19) Some people style themselves homeless mendicants, though indulging in violent actions to carth-bodied beings with various weapons, which involve destruction of various other classes of beings. Bhāșyam Sūtras 18,19 Some people though declaring themselves mendicants, do not abstain from injury to earth-bodied organisms. Here the sūtra says that if the householder does not desist from injuring the earth-bodied beings, there would be nothing unusual. But if even the mendicants do not abstain from such acts, that should be a matter of great surprise. The self-restrained activities should also be properly guarded to the best of one's capacity. The person who destroys the earth-bodied organisms by a variety of weapons also kills other creatures that infest the earth. Thus it is said: A person killing the earth-bodied organisms also kills the creatures living there, such as various kinds of mobile beings, visible or invisible". How could such person be a mendicant? A sastra (weapon) is so called because it is an instrument of violence śasyate yena). Such weapons include plough, spade, shovel, etc. Here the word sastra (weapon) deserves further consideration. The weapon is of Iwo kinds: material and mental. The instrument that kills is material weapon, while the attitude of non-restraint that is responsible for such killing is a mental weapon". The Sthānānga (the third book of Inner Corpus) gart UFI BTA - fyra, 2002 C
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