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governed, enslaved, tortured and killed'. Know that there is no sin in committing violence.”
Bhāsyam Sūtra 20
Some Šramaņas and Brāhmaṇas mutually contend èãWe have perceived, heard, reflected upon, thoroughly comprehended, scrutinised in all directions that there is no sin in committing violence of the living beings. One wonders whether there are Sramaņas and Brähamaņas who approve of such kind of violence. One suld not forget that in the age of Lord Mahāvīra, the principle of non-violence was not held in that great respect which it commands today. In those days, sacrificial violence was considered a religious act. Violence was approved for acquiring non-vegetarian food. In the present Sūtra, the opinion of the learned people who supported such violence in those days has found record.
4.21
aņāriyavayanameyam. This is the view of the ignoble.
| Bhagyam Sutra 21
To the aforesaid opinion of the opponent, the Sūtra says that this is the doctrine of the ignoble person, as it professes violence to living beings. In earlier ancient times, the world ārya (noble) and anārya (ignoble) were used for ethinically different groups of people. In the time of Lord Mahāvīra, these words acquired technical meaning. Arya stood for the ethically superior people and anārya for the ethically inferior ones. In the Sūtrakstānga, there is a mention of āryamārga (the path followed by the ārya (1.3.66). The word ärya-satry (noble truth) in Buddhism is well known. In the present context anārya appears to stand for one who does not believe in the discipline of ahimsā, the antidote of this is ārya
who believes in such discipline. 4.22 tattha je te äriyā, te evaņ vayāsi - se duddittham ca bhe, dussuyam
ca bhe, dummayam ca bhe, duvviņņāyam ca bhe, uddham aham tiriyam disāsu savvato duppadilohiyam ca bhe, jaņņam tubbhe
De
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