The Book of Sermons (Sutrakrtanga) is one of the oldest Jainist texts, one of the eleven Limbs (Anga). In the selection here, the first verses (Of Human Bondage) epitomize the teaching of Jainism. The text from which they are taken, a series of separate passages of various origin in prose and verse, is one of the oldest sections of the canon. The insistence on nonviolence and the disparagement of human emotions are among the leading themes of Jainism from its origin to the present day.
The verses from the section Creatures Great and Small exemplify the cardinal Jain doctrine that life pervades the whole world and that the lives of even the humblest living things should be respected. The Jain view is that all of life is divided into five classes depending on the number of senses they have. The first verse lists the various categories of life; the first two lines giving the five sub-classes of one-sensed beings, and the second two a fourfold subdivision of beings with two or more senses.
Of Human Bondage (Sutrakrtanga, I.1.1.1-5)
One should know what binds the soul, and, knowing, break free from bondage.
What bondage did the Hero declare, and what knowledge did he teach to remove it?
He who grasps at even a little, whether living or lifeless, or consents to another doing so, will never be freed from sorrow.
If a man kills living things, or slays by the hand of another, or consents to another slaying, his sin goes on increasing.
The man who cares for his kind and companions is a fool who suffers much, for their numbers are ever increasing.
All his wealth and relations cannot save him from sorrow.
Only if he knows the nature of life, will he get rid of karma. ...
Creatures Great and Small (Sutrakrtanga, I.1-9)
Earth and water, fire and wind,
Grass, trees, and plants, and all creatures that move,
Born of the egg, born of the womb,
Born of dung, born of liquids --
These are the classes of living beings.
Know that they all seek happiness.
In hurting them men hurt themselves,
And will be born again among them ...
Some men leave mother and father for the life of a monk,
But still make use of fire;
But He has said, "Their principles are base
Who hurt for their own pleasure."
The man who lights a fire kills living things,
While he who puts it out kills the fire;
Thus a wise man who understands the Law
Should never light a fire.
There are lives in earth and lives in water
Hopping insects leap into the fire,
And worms dwell in rotten wood.
All are burned when a fire is lighted.
Even plants are beings, capable of growth,
Their bodies need food, they are individuals.
The reckless cut them for their own pleasure
And slay many living things in doing so.
He who carelessly destroys plants, whether sprouted or full grown,
Provides a rod for his own back.
He who has said, "Their principles are ignoble
Who harms plants for their own pleasure."
