Kill before being killed

[Palaniappa]

In a message dated 97-12-09 12:13:11 EST, keulrich at MIDWAY.UCHICAGO.EDU writes:

<< In a fourteenth century commentary on the Tamil Jain text NIlakEci (verse
 286), a woman decides to push her husband off a cliff before he kills her.
 She refers to a 'wise saying':

 taR kolliyai muR kolliya, kill before the killing of oneself.
  >>
The story being mentioned here is that of "kuNTalakEci" a Buddhist work which
is one of the five major epics of Tamil literature (in this the protagonist-
heroine becomes a Buddhist nun) most of which is lost. On the other hand,
nIlakEci, a minor epic, which has survived is a Jain work (the protagonist-
heroine becomes a Jain nun).

Regards

S. Palaniappan