________________
76
An Account of
hs in ages gone by, before we give our judgment as to the cause of the small number of its professors. This we shall be able to do not in the beginning, but in the end of our inquiry. Yet the very first step we have to take is to mark.
THE THEOSOPHICAL NATURE OF JAINISM. which shows why the charge has at all come into vogue and the way in which it is to be answered. Jainism is in fact neither a religion nor a sect nor a school of Philosophy. It is the essence, the abstract, the undercurrent, in short, the religion of religions. It may be defined almost in the same terms as were used by Zeller or Ferrier in forming a definition of philosophy in general. Jainism is a purified system of rational knowledge holding only such principles as appeal to reason qua reason. It is not Vishnu thas the Jains adore; it is not Shankar that they accept as their God. Neither is Budha or Christ their object of worship. Yet in one sonso it is Vishnu ( the pro
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
