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264
YAŠASTILAKA AND INDIAN CULTURE
Dealing with the question of injury, Somadeva enunciates a positive view of ahińsā and defines hirinsă as destruction of living creatures through error of judgement, and ahińsā as the protection afforded to them. It follows, therefore, that animals must not be killed for the purpose of worshipping the gods or the Manes, or entertaining one's guests, or in any mystic rites, or for medicinal purposes or out of fear: this constitutes the the vow of ahissa.?
All liquids should be strained through a cloth before use to avoid any possible injury to living creatures, and one should for the same reason give up also eating at night. Rice-gruel (or pickles), syrups, unhusked paddy, flowers, fruits, roots and leaves, being the breeding gr organisms, should not be acquired for use nor anything that is frequented by the latter. Hollow stalks and reeds should be avoided as well as creepers and bulbs resorted to by diverse creatures. Herbs or vegetables should be taken when no longer raw, after splitting them into two sections, and all kinds of pulses and beans which are cooked entire should also be avoided.
Somadeva then enumerates certain qualities which should be cultivated to realise the ideal of ahimsā. They are maitri, pramoda, kärunya and mādhyasthya. Maitri is the disposition not to cause suffering to any one by any physical act or thoughts or words. Pramoda is affection coupled with respect for men eminent for their virtues and religious austerities. Kārunya is the will to help the poor, while Mādhyasthya is an equitable attitude, free from pleasure and displeasure, towards those who are devoid of any merit. The supreme quality of kindness is emphasized by declaring that virtue is light and sin darkness, and sin cannot abide in a person crowned with the rays of kindness. 16 Ahiṁsā is thus a positive virtue, and resolves into jīvadayā or compassion for living creatures, which by itself is as efficacious as all good words combined. The effect of the latter is like the result of agricultural labour, while that of the former is like the miraculous results produced by the Cintamani yem."
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T a rnuta II P. 337.
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