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‘means are after all everything'. As the means, so is the end."! Impurity of means is caused by arrogance (like wrong belief in one self about one's knowledge, capacity and expectation of achieving the end) primarily. However Gandhi supported the metaphysical belief in the moral law of karma, under which there is an exact causal connection between the extent of the moral “purity” (detachment and disinterestedness or the degree of moral awareness) of an act and the measure of individual effectiveness in promoting or pursuing and securing a morally worthy end, over a period of time. He thus recommended that we must be primarily or even wholly concerned with the immediate adoption of what we regard as a morally worthy (i.e. intrinsically justifiable) means. Gandhi explicitly rejected the doctrine that the end justifies the means, and went so far as to assert that a moral means is almost an end in itself because virtue is its own reward.
The two qualities which made Gandhi unique were: his crystal clear transparency i.e. no discord or deviation between his thought, word and deed and publicly admittance of his Himalayan blunders; and his keen desire to restore the dignity of all human beings.
Jain ethics support the principle that right-ought-good cannot be separated with the guiding principle to maximize Ahimsa over Himsa until the attainment of complete AHIMSA as the highest good. So Ahimsa becomes a means as well as the end. The criterion of what is right etc. is the greater balance of good over bad. Jain ethics holds the teleological theory of right (Maximum balance of Ahimsa over himsa as the right-making characteristic). Further the four passions i.e. anger, arrogance, deceit and greed are the causes of wrong belief and conduct resulting in bad results. In a positive way it implies straightforwardness or harmony in acts of mind body and speech,
Pg.190 Gandhi & Jainism
| SR No. | 007798 |
| Book Title | Gandhi And Jainism |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Shugan C Jain |
| Publisher | International School for Jain Studies |
| Publication Year | 2017 |
| Total Pages | 339 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 120 MB |