Views on Ahimsa Compassion and Samyaktva in Jainism

Author(s): Kristi L Wiley
Publisher: Z_Lessons_of_Ahimsa_and_Anekanta_for_Contemporary_Life_014006.pdf

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Lessons of Ahimsa and Anekānia for Contemporary Life
A similar view of ahimsa and compassion is found on a web page of Jain pilgrimages: "Jainism has become synonymous with ahimså. Ahimsă (non-violence) occupies the supreme place in Jainism. ... Compassion (dayā) is the guiding force of nonviolence. It is the positive way of life. It has been assigned an equally high place in Jainism- 'Daya dharma ka mala' (Compassion is the basis of religion)."S
These writings are reflective of different views regarding compassion in Jainism. In writing about Jain views of ecology in the West, Anne Vallely has observed that "in the diaspora community . . . asceticism is being de-emphasized so that teachings of compassion and non-violence are no longer anchored to a renunciatory worldview. Jain teachings are being redefined according to a different ethical charter altogether one in which active engagement in the world is encouraged."6 Is this diversity of opinion indicative of a shift in thought regarding compassion itself? In this regard, it would be instructive to examine views regarding compassion that are found in some classical Jain texts that emphasize renunciation and asceticism.
First, let us examine statements in the Tattvärthasutra (TS), a text accepted by both Svetāmbaras and Digambaras. In T$ 6.12, compassion (unukampa) is listed as one of the causes of the influx of sata-vedaniya karma (the karma that causes pleasant bodily feelings), along with giving (dāna), asceticism with attachment (sarāga-samyama), concentration (voga), equanimity (kșanti), and purity or freedom from greed (sauca). Here, and in other
5 http://www.jainpilgrimages.com/general/mahavir.htm (December 15, 2001).
• Anne Vallely, "From Liberation to Ecology: Ethical Discourses among Orthodox and Diaspora Jains," in Christopher Key Chapple (ed.), Jainism and Ecolog: (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2002), pp. 193-216.
? Muni Shri Mishrimal Maharaj (trans.), Karmagrantha of Devendrasuri, 6 vols. (Beawar, Rajasthan: Shri Marudharakesari Sahitya Prakashana Samiti, 1974-1976): 1.55. Here compassion is associated with the binding of sūtā-vedaniya karma.
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