Introduction to Jainism and its Culture

SR No.: 001605
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Balbhadra Jain
Publisher: Kundkund Gyanpith Indore
Publication Year: 2002
Total Pages: 334
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Religion, & Culture
File Size: 21 MB

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annihilated millions of people; and inflicted the horror of exodus on millions of Jews. Even today these religions and sects continue to spread hatred and fan fanaticism in the human race. Stark realities like religious terrorism, hatred between Muslims and Jews, organized proselytizing, etc. are fast depriving religious sects of their usefulness to human society.
It would be wrong to conclude that religions and sects were or are established for the purpose of spreading hatred in or destroying human rące. In fact, these are established for invoking feelings of goodwill, friendship, service and altruism. It is the need of the hour to emphasize and promote the said virtues and codes for which they were originally established.
Every religious sect contains moral values and ideals of beatitude and progress of humanity within its ambit. Also included are the guidelines of egalitarianism and solidarity of mankind without any discrimination based on place, time, caste and creed. Today there is the need of spreading and promoting these principles, ideals, and guidelines. Only these values can be called religion. The things that foment feelings of alienation, hatred, animosity and inequality; the principles or religious texts that on some pretext and in some way support killing of beings, consumption of intoxicants and meat, lechery, and other such vices are called sin not religion. The sects that support and promote such sins can neither be called religion nor something superhuman or divine.
Why these sects and their scriptures supported things that the modern discerning man considers despicable social evils? This is a natural question. There could be only two answers to this question. First, that the propagators and leaders of these sects were infected with these vices. In order to make these vices sacrosanct they supported them and declared them to be doctrinal. And second, The state or the country and the period in which these sects were founded was widely infested with vices. It was not practical to condemn or censure these vices, neither could it be expected that the vices could be eliminated just by condemnation. Therefore, taking the middle path by accepting the lesser evil some of the vices must have been allowed accepting them into the codes. However, no matter what the reason was, vice is always a vice, and evil is always evil. By branding it religion it cannot
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