110 
THE ORIENTAL ANNUAL. 
ciple, that they will not pluck any herb or vegetable, 
or partake of any sort of food, which may be sup- 
posed to contain animalculi ; so that the only articles 
of sustenance remaining to them appear to be rice, 
and a few sorts of pulse, which they cook with milk. 
They affirm, indeed, that it is as foul a murder to 
kill an insect as to slay a man ; and so extreme is 
their precaution to avoid the commission of the 
crime, that it is with great reluctance, and only 
when reduced to the necessity by urgent thirst, that 
they will drink water ; even then, they invariably 
suck up the fluid through a piece of fine muslin. 
In like manner, when they require water for ablu- 
tion, or any unavoidable household purpose, they 
carefully strain it repeatedly, before they venture to 
use it. The most noxious vermin and insects are 
also treated with the same consideration as the most 
harmless creatures ; and if, through persevering an- 
noyance, they are compelled to deprive certain odious 
insects of the asylum usually found upon their 
persons, they remove the tormentors with the utmost 
care, and tenderly place them out of harm’s way. 
The highest distinction to which the sanctity 
of a Jhaina devotee can advance him, is styled 
Saniasi Nirvani, nude penitent, and is attained only 
by a long course of extreme penance, and the most 
rigid observance of the laws of the order. In this 
sublime state, the soul is supposed to be partially 
absorbed into the essence of the Divinity, and the 
