________________ very constitution. Law is not to be understood in the sense of a rule of action prescribed by authority, but as a proposition which expresses the constant or regular order or certain phenomena, or constant mode of action of things and beings. It is not a command but a formula to which things or beings conform precisely and without exception, of course, under definite circumstances and surroundings. Jainism, therefore, is not a theistic system in the sense of the belief of the existence of a god as the Creator and Ruler of the universe. And still, the highest being, in the Jaina view, is a person and not characterless, qualityless Being like Brahma of the Vedanta. Every living being, from the minutest to the highest embodied one, is the centre of innumerable activities. In any particular being, these activities determine the stage of its evolution. It has its biological or vital activities those of drawing the necessary nutritive elements, assimilating them, also of growth and decay, and feeling in a way the influences of the forces of nature. Under certain circumstances and relationships, certain influences act upon it in an incongenial way; and still, in course of time, it develops a wonderful adaptibility. 71 Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org
