________________
129
all nations whose history is known to us. Our own sympathies also are almost entirely on that side. But was man placed on this earth for that one purpose only ? Can we not imagine a different purpose, particularly under conditions such as existed for many centuries in India and nowhere else ? In India the necessaries of life were few, and those which existed were supplied without much exertion on the part of ma! by a bountiful nature, Clothing scanty as it was, was easily provided. Life in the ope: air or in the shades of the forest was more delightful than life in cottages or palaces. The danger of inroa is fron foreign countries was never drea:nt of before the ti.ne of Darius and Alexander, and then on one side on only, 0:1 the North, while more than a silver streak protected all around the far stretching shores of the country. Why s!10'ild the ancient inhabitants of India not have accepted their lot ? Was it so very unnatural for then, eodowed as they were, with a transcendent istallact, to look upon this life not as an arena for gladiatorial strife a:id coinbat, or as a market for cheating and huckstering, but as a resting place, a mere waiting room at a statio3 on a Journey leading theiu froin the known to the unknown, but exciting for that very reason their ut:nost curiosity as to whence they came and whither they were going. So in those palmy day of India a large class of people, not only the priestly class but the nobility also, not only men but women also
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
