Jain Journal 2002 01

SR No.: 520145
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publication Year: 2002
Total Pages: 84
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, India_Jain Journal, & India
File Size: 5 MB

Page 65

164
JAIN JOURNAL: Vol-XXXVI, No. 3 January, 2002
Cycle of Births will come to a living being, till a man destroys his previous Karmas (deeds/actions) by dint of right knowledge. The Jains believe that unless the Karmas of human beings are not destroyed, the Cycle of Births will continue. The destruction of Karmas is, therefore, the essential feature for getting Moksa (liberation).
Mahävira taught people the basic idea of tolerance. In different contexts the fundamental principles of tolerance is expressed. For becoming a perfect man in different walks of life Mahavira showed the people the way of tolerance. The idea of tolerance can be seen in the principles of pañcamahāvratas and triguptis. The pañcamahāuratas are the greatest vows in Jainism. Of the five vows-satya (truth), acaurya (non-stealing), brahmacarya (celibacy), aparigraha (nonpossesion of things)--the ahimsā (non-violence) is the most fundamental one. Each one of the vows carries a special significance for the upliftment of the moral faculties of human beings. The triguptis teach people how to restain in speech, body and mind. As a result of tolerance, after the paryusanaparva, everybody prays by saying,
"I pardon all the animals and, let all the animals pardon me. I have friendship with all animals and I have no enmity with anybody."
The motto of this Seminar is to ransack and revalue the amount of literature already produced, and the future plan and programme for Jainistic studies.
I hope all these teachings of Mahāvīra will be discussed in this International Seminar on Lord Mahavira and the 21st Century. I believe scholars will unearth new discoveries, and the interpretation of the scriptural quibbles will be done in a new direction. I welcome the participants of the International Seminar who have come from a long distance to make the seminar a grand success.
Before I conclude my introductory speech, I, on behalf of the 2600th Birth Anniversary Committee of Calcutta, must express our deep sense of gratitute to our beloved Governor, Shri Viren J. Shah, who is benign and benevolent in accepting our invitation to inaugurate the International Seminar on Jainism. We shall ever remain grateful to His Excellency the Governor of West Bengal.
We are also grateful to the Honourable Justice K.M. Yusuf who, despite his multifarious busy schedules, has accepted our invitation and has gladdened us by his august presence and thought-provoking speech.
We are also grateful to the Reverend Swami Prabhanandaji Maharaj, the Secretary of the Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture at