Lessons of Ahimsa and Anekanta for Contemporary Life

Author(s): Tara Sethia
Publisher: California State Polytechnic University Pomona

Page 48

Padmnabh S. Jaini, 'Ahimsa and the Question of "Just War"
that Bahubali stood steadfast in meditation at that very spot for so long that creepers grew over his body and anthills formed at his feet. Bāhubali thus became omniscient and continues to be revered by the Jaina community as the first man of this age to have attained emancipation from the cycle of birth and death; colossal images of him in meditational posture are worshipped to this day.
The Jainas drew several morals from this story that are relevant in guiding Jaina laymen in determining their proper duty when confronted by an adversary in battle. First, it was maintained that valor was preferable to cowardice: Bahubali was right in standing up for his familial rights to a share of the domain, but Bharata was also correct in attempting to maintain the territorial integrity of his realm. The king's ministers were also right to reduce the necessary violence to an absolute minimum by proposing single combat between the two brothers rather than involving both armies in the dispute. But the Jainas ultimately maintained that the victory of Bāhubali would not have truly settled anything for, had he succeeded to kingship as he was entitled, a new cycle of violence would certainly have ensued on the part of the loyalists of the vanquished monarch. This would have proved the truth of Jaina maxim that all possessions are evil, for true nonviolence cannot be practiced either by an individual or by a society that craves possessions and must therefore fight to acquire, augment, and protect its wealth. Total nonviolence is possible only when possessions are relinquished, as was so admirably demonstrated by Bahubali's renunciation of the world after his victory. Thus, again is upheld the Jaina belief that only the valiant and the self-denying can pursue nonviolence to its fullest extent, not the cowardly or the covetous.
For the layman who was unable to forsake all possessions but was nevertheless keen to minimize his himsā, the Jainas introduced a precept called parigraha-parimāņa (voluntarily setting a limit on one's possessions) and included it as the last of the five anuvratas (minor vows). A Jaina layman wishing to take
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