posted February 16, 2008 11:46 AM         

"Once Parshwanath, a young prince, arriving as a bridegroom with his marriage entourage to the house of his bride, saw near the house an enclosure of animals, tightly packed, waiting to be slaughtered. Shocked by the cry of the animals, the prince enquired, "Why are those animals being kept in such cruel conditions?" His aides replied, "They are for the feast of the wedding party."

The young prince was overwhelmed with compassion. Arriving at the wedding chamber, he spoke with the father of the princess. "Immediately and unconditionally all those animals enclosed to be slaughtered for the marriage feast must be freed," he said. "Why?" responded the father. "The lives of animals are there for the pleasure of humans. Animals are our slaves and our meat. How can there be any feast without the flesh?!"

Prince Parshwanath was puzzled. He could not believe what he had just heard. He exclaimed, "Animals have souls, they have consciousness, they are our kith and kin, they are our ancestors. They wish to live as much as we do; they have feelings and emotions. They have love and passion; they fear death as much as we do. Their instinct for life is no less than ours. Their right to live is as fundamental as our own. I cannot marry, I cannot love and I cannot enjoy life if animals are enslaved and killed." Without further ado he rejected the plans for his marriage, he discarded the comfortable life of a prince, and he responded to his inner calling to go out and awaken the sleepy masses who had been conditioned to think selfishly and kill animals for their pleasure and comfort.

According to the story, the animal kingdom welcomes Parshwanath as the prophet of the weak and the wild. They gather around him when he calls for kindness. The birds sit upon the tree nearby; fishes come to the corner of the lake where Parshwanath is seated. Elephants, lions, foxes, rabbits, rats, insects, and ants pay homage to him. One day, finding Parshwanath being soaked by the heavy rain of the monsoon, the king of the cobras stood on his tail and created an umbrella with his huge head.

Thousands upon thousands of people in villages, towns and cities are moved by the teachings of Parshwanath. They renounce meat and take up the work of animal welfare. The princess whom Parshwanath was going to marry was so inspired that she decided to remain unmarried and dedicate herself to the care of animals. Having lost a daughter and would-be son-in-law to the cause of animal compassion, the King himself underwent anguish and yet experienced transformation. He announced that all animals were to be respected in his kingdom, and that there would be no hunting, no shooting, no caging and no pets.

There are twenty-four Great Liberators in the Jain Lineage. Adinath was the first. Parshwanath was the twenty-third. Such Liberators are called tirthankaras. The twenty-fourth was Mahavir who lived 2,600 years ago. He revived the Jain religion as it is practiced today. All the twenty-four Great Liberators have an animal associated with them, symbolizing that in Jain teachings the place of animals is central. Love is not love if it does not include love of animals, according to Jain teachings. What kind of compassion is it which adores and reveres human life, but ignores the slaughter of animals?

Division between humans and animals and putting human interests before animal interests is the beginning of sectionalism, racism, nationalism, class and caste discrimination, and of course speciesism. The same mindset, which enslaves animals, goes on to enslave humans in the name of self-interest, national interest, and umpteen other narrow interests.
Therefore we, the Jains, advocate an unconditional and unequivocal reverence for all life".