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Ahimsā Dharma (The Religion of Non-Violence)
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for the sake of the betterment of society but also for one's own spiritual enhancement. A person who indulges in Himsa can never be spiritually developed.
It is love that sustains the earth. Life without love is death. And Ahiṁsā is nothing but love to all, even for the meanest. Ahimsā teaches that we have to behave with others as we would like to be treated by others and this is the essence of Bhagavāna Mahāvira's teachings- "jam ichhasi appanto, jam ca na ichhasi appanato, tam iccha parassa vi, ettiyagam jiņasāsanayan."} The whole human race is one and if we have to cosider the world as a family, the idea of Ahimsā should be taught to everybody. Anekāntavāda is the best help in resolving the mutual conflicts and in minimizing the Himsä emerging from one's prejudices which is essential to understand others' ideologies and faiths.
Non-violence and Environment
Environment has been one of the greatest victims of man's recklessness and indiscretion. The sufferings of environment can only be alleviated through this divine way of life as it insists on affectionate protection of not only human life and animal kingdom but also of plants and trees. You may be surprised to know that 2500 years ago Bhagavāna Mahāvira emphasised the absolute necessity of being tender and considerate to our surroundings.
Vegetarianism -- an instrument of Non-violence
Vegetarianism is the foremost manifestation of Ahiṁsā Vrata. It is simply a logical extension of the habit of looking upon others with tendemess and compassion. The basic reason is that once we are cruel to animals, it is not difficult for us to be cruel to fellow human beings also.
A major objection to vegetarianism is that there is a life of soul in every kind of food that we consume, and eating any kind of food is clearly an interference with the course of life. Therefore, according to this point of view, there is no difference between interfering with the vegetable kingdom and the animal kingdom for the sake of obtaining food. However, the proponents of this view fail to see that here is a world of difference between the two cases. The difference relates to the sensitivity to pain, the possibility of compensation and the degree of interference. When an innocent animal is slaughtered, man definitely causes pain and agony by
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| SR No. | 014010 |
| Book Title | Jainism in a Global Perspective - Collection of Jain papers of 1993 Parliament of World Religions, Chicago |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Sagarmal Jain, Shreeprakash Pandey |
| Publisher | Parshwanath Vidyapith |
| Publication Year | 1998 |
| Total Pages | 402 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Seminar & Articles |
| File Size | 23 MB |