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book and a plain example for the younger generation, Different religions have aimed at this end. If every citizen develops in this way, it will be an ideal Society, perhaps a utopia. There is a yearning for peace every where, and a society built on a non-violent foundation alone can guarantee it. Ahiṁsā can prove a panacea against the maladies of our present-day society. On the discovery of it, Albert Schweitzer (Indian Thought and Its Development, London, 1951, pp. 81-2) has rightly observed : “ The laying down of the commandment not to kill and not to damage is one of the greatest events in the spiritual history of mankind. Starting from its principles, founded on world and life denial, of abstention from action, ancient Indian thought-and this in a period when in other respects ethics have not progressed very far-reaches the tremendous discovery that ethics know no bounds. So far as we know, this is for the first time clearly expressed in Jainism”.
Shri Kothari's exposition of Ahimsā is thoughtprovoking, informative and studied; and I am sure it will go a long way to contribute to a better understanding of this moral law.
This book is being published on the occasion of the celebrations of the 2500th Nirvāņa of Bhagavān Mahāvīra. It is a fine tribute to the memory of Mahāvīra, the great apostle of Ahiṁsā. It is very kind of Shri V. P. Kothari to give this brochure for publication in the Jivarāja Jaina Granthamālā. The General Editor is so thankful to him.
The General Editor records his gratitute to Shri
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