________________
17
ages & ages to come and regions & regions to have its spreading. He describes in more convincing way the pathos of the dying & crying dumb creatures even more effectively than the apt writers of the animal farm & animal husbandry. His 'to the point' picking powerful pen describes the spirit of transformation that followed on the footsteps of Rishabhadeva and Bharata's RISHABHANUSHASANA, in these words:
"There was a time period when the degraded custom of meat-eating prevailed not only amongst the KSHATRIYAS, but also in classes. Just like the offering of coconut & fruits, the slaughter of animals & birds on the occasions of daily meals, social ceremonies & religious practices, was prevalent and respectably founded in the same & similar fashion. In such an age, Yadunandana Prince Nemikumara adopted an astonishing step. By getting moved & melted compassionately & spontaneously on listening to the unspoken pathetic cries & screams of the animals & birds, which were going to be slaughtered for the food to be served as a feast during his marriage, he made a great sacrificing resolution. He instantaneously resolved (during the course of his marriage procession) not to go ahead for such a marriage, wherein there was going to be huge & cruel slaughter of unnecessary & innocent animals & birds! With such a serious resolve without listening & heeding to the pleas of all concerned, he immediately (turned his chariot) returned from his ongoing marriage procession. By going over to Mount Girnar directly from Dwaraka, he commenced penance. By his selfexample of renouncing & leaving the Princess in his youth and by adopting the path of meditation & penance, he gave such a tremendous blow to that long prevailing tradition of the slaughter of animals & bids that from that blow, this tradition & practice was totally demolished & destroyed from whole of Gujarat and Gujarat influenced provinces and this practice was converted into the popular institution of Panjarapole-Goshalas (animal compassion shelters) from places to places, which is alive & prevalent even till date..!"
(DARSHAN AUR CHINTAN, PP. 144-145)
Dr. Pandit Sukhlalji's above observation has survived testimony of times. Throughout the subsequent ages, animal slaughterings & feasts of meat-eatings stopped thereafter and animal protecting-sheltering above referred PanjarapoleGoshalas flourished throughout Bharat. Nemikumar turned NEMINATHA's Ahimsa influenced continuously for a long span of time till now, but ...
IN PARSHWANATH, MAHAVEERA & BUDDHA'S AGE: NOT ONLY GOSHALAS FLOURISHED, 'GOKULAS' ALSO EXISTED, BUT NEW FORM OF ANIMAL-SACRIFICES EMERGED
Ahimsa-Non Violence & Compassion became deep-rooted since above referred 21st Tirthankara NEMINATHA's times in Bharat. It not only influenced Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Brahmins & Jains, but also the Vaishnavaites and others from Gujarat to deep South Bharat where even today large number of people & communities are found strictly vegetarians.
