यशस्तिलक के सन्दर्भ में अहिंसा

Summary

The article "यशस्तिलक के सन्दर्भ में अहिंसा" by Prof. Gokulchand Jain, published in *Gyan Deshna* (Vol. 4, Issue 1, Jan-June 2011), examines the concept of non-violence (ahimsa) as presented in Somadeva Suri's 10th-century Sanskrit work *Yashastilaka*. Composed in 959 CE during the Rashtrakuta period, the text is a significant cultural document. Somadeva was a polymath—a logician, writer, political thinker, and Jain monk—whose travels and debates enriched his understanding of diverse cultures and religions. The article analyzes ahimsa in *Yashastilaka* from three perspectives: the cultural nature of its narrative, the evaluation of violence and non-violence within it, and Somadeva's view of ahimsa and its practice. The story follows King Yashodhara, who, under pressure from his mother Queen Chandramati, offers a flour-made rooster (pistaka-kukkuta) to the goddess Chandamari instead of a real animal. This act of symbolic violence, done with deliberate intent (sankalpika himsa), leads to the immediate death of both mother and son due to poison. They then undergo six births as animals before attaining human rebirth after repentance. The article explains that this consequence arises because Yashodhara, as a householder, was expected to abstain from intentional violence, and his act also involved deceit (maya) towards the deity, which binds karmas leading to animal births. The narrative's backdrop includes the historical context of 10th-century South India, where violent tantric practices involving animal and human sacrifice by Kaula and Kapalika sects were prevalent. The story contrasts this with the Jain ideal of ahimsa, as seen in the debate between Yashodhara and his mother. Chandramati cites scriptures like Manusmriti to justify sacrifice, while