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Mahāvīra and His Relevance
estimate our objectives, both individually and collectively, without salvishly prostrating ourselves before any power for fear or favour; and thus work on with confidence and hope that man must progress for his existence and betterment. Every individual has the potentiality of the divine, and it is for him to realise this by following the path, of religion. Physical science and technical skill have given us power, and it is for us now to choose whether we want to make forward progress for the betterment of man and his environment or just reduce ourselves to a heap of radio-active ashes.
Good neighbourliness and restraint on the acquisitive instinct are a contagious virtue : what is true of an individual is also true of a group, social or political. The man who does not know himself and refuses to know another man as man can never live at peace with himself, or obviously, at peace with others. A clear understanding of oneself and of others can alone remove mutual suspicion and counter-balance the constant threat of war, thus leading us to a true condition of peaceful coexistence.
Today, liberty of thought and speech is increasingly getting crippled in a subtle manner, tendentious propaganda not only conceals but also perverts the apparent facts, and the world is put on a wrong track. This means that the thinking man has to keep himself vigilant, understand the limitations of his knowledge and thus learn to respect the viewpoint of others, as laid down by Nayavāda and Syādvāda. Let us not lose faith in man as man, and let us learn to respect each other as man. We must see that man lives under healthy and progressive conditions as a world citizen. The basic principles of Jainism (such as Ahiṁsā, Vratas, Nayavāda and Syādvāda), if correctly understood and earnestly put into practice, can make one a worthy citizen of the world.
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