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THE MESSAGE OF JAINISM
feels itself often checked, however, by another set of inner voices. No matter whether we call them conscience, the imperative call of humanity, the promptings of social instinct, or something else, they regularly warn the individual, whenever the pride of ego tempts it to overrule one or another of the tenets of the Moral Law. For, by so doing, it endangers, directly or indirectly, the well-being of the social body of which it forms a part. Life, viewed from this perspective, seems to be nothing but an attempt on the part of the individual to maintain a delicate balance for itself on the exact line of demarcation between its selfish instincts on the one hand, and its moral obligations on the other. In this frantic effort, it seeks to avoid, as far as possible, hurting its own interests on the one side, and those of the society on the other. This state of equipoise is experienced by the refined mind as the maximum of inner happiness which can be attained under a given set of circumstances. It is that superior happiness, that 'Peace of God', which religion promises to its followers.
For, religion has always considered it as one of its tasks to indicate that delicate line of demarcation which proceeds winding along between the two opposite forces of moral purity and elemental self-interest. Every religion has faced this task with boldness and determination, and in its own peculiar way, following its own particular character and tradition. If, therefore, a religion has succeeded in fulfilling its task well, its doctrines must assure a state of perfect and permanent harmony between the well-being of the individual and that of the society, under
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com