________________
sion arises, let him ask himself the question. "Is it necessary for me to injure this being. and if so, what is the minimum amonnt of iujury that will serve the need ?" This much care and caution would save him from a lot of wanton destruction.
It is not the infliction of physical injury alone that constitutes Himsa, but violence in words and violence in thought is also Himsa, and one must abstain from these too. Would these be called by reasonable nen principles calculated to weaken communities and nations ? In this age of armament and bitter struggle, one feels inclined to say "yes" to this question. But if religion has to fulfil its mission of bringing peace on earth and goodwill amongst mankind, it must always emphasize the ultimate good, and declare evil as evil howsoever unavoidable it may appear at any particular time.
Consistently with this view, Jainism wants abstention from injury to life to be established as a rule of good conduct; it wants to make people gentlemen who have no tendency to do violence to anybody. With its outlook of Anekanta, Jainism recognizes that it is not always easy or good to abstain from inflcting Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat www.umaragyanbhandar.com
