Some Jaina Canonical Sutras c8.68

c8.68

The Hatthitāpasas mentioned in the Sūtrakṛtāṅga were those who used to kill every year one elephant for the purpose of food on the ground that thereby they minimized the slaughter of life (Jaina Sūtras, II, p. 418). The Brahmin lawgivers prohibited the eating of some kinds of fish and flesh. But this selection does not prohibit the eating of all kinds of fish and flesh enjoined by the religious feeling of the recluses. The Upāli sutta of the Majjhima Nikāya (I, 377) contains an interesting discussion of this subject. The Jain householder Upāli points out that according to his Master every act of killing is a cause of demerit whether the act be intentional or not. Buddha demurred to this view of Mahāvīra. He thought that a man does not commit any sin if the act be unintentional. It is impossible, according to the Buddha, to abstain from killing, for even in moving about a man is bound to put to death many lives. The Jainas took exception to the Buddhist view and an interesting account of it is given in the Sūtrakṛtāṅga (Jaina Sūtras, II, pp. 414-417).