Jainism is known among India’s religions for its strict adherence to non-harming, which is the first of the five major vows of the Jain mendicant, and the first of the minor vows of the Jain layperson. In this paper, I focus on the non-harming of the Jain layperson.
First, I examine the definition of harming found in Chapter 7 of the Tattvārthādhigamasūtra （TAAS） and review the explanations found in its various commentaries.
Second, by examining the definitional explanations of non-harming in the Śrāvakācāra texts, I confirm the influence of the TAAS’s definition of harming.
Third, I consider other factors that sufficiently define the non-harming of the Jain layperson. Specifically, these include a detailed explanation of words such as pramatta, found in the TAAS commentaries, references to the avoidance of action in nine ways, and references to the difference between mobile and immobile beings.
