Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c9.s18.14

c9.s18.14

In fact, these examples only show that the Jains took a practical view of the question of flesh-eating. In times when no other food was available except meat, Jain monks were advised to take it rather than starve themselves to death. The wandering monks who passed through all sorts of countries and met all sorts of people, most of them having a predilection to meat diet, could not be too punctilious about their diet, and a via media had to be found out if they were to preach their religion without the pangs of hunger. They could, however, atone for their sin after performing prāyaścitta.