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The Image of Indian Ethology be Jainas should know the way leading to desired destination. The Buddhistic ethics expatiates on the third Noble Truth, viz how to be rid of suffering so as to attain salvation. The fourth one makes us aware of the eightfold way. The Jaina ethics emphasizes the three 'jewels' which alone can guarantee liberation. The Gitā talks of three ways of knowledge, action and devotion, All the three mention the ideal of life and means to attain it. All this we learn from ethics.
None can stay idle all the time. Life and conduct have inseparable association so that we cannot think of the one without the other. Conduct is verily the characteristic of life. Jainism regards conduct as the differentia of human life, and activity as the root of life. All beings are gifted with body, speech and mental functions. The Gītā says, 'Surely none can remain inactive even for a moment: everyone is helplessly driven to action by nature-born qualities.' The Buddhist say that activity characterises life so much that there is no doer apart from action. Action itself is the doer. 10 Matthew Arnold says that conduct is three-fourth of life." Mackenzie says that in view of purposive activity conduct itself is life. Now the question is whether all conduct is equally beneficent. It cannot be since many aspects of it are positively hurlful. It is the sacred lore that instructs us as to what is ethical or unethical beneficent or maleficent. The Gītā holds "Let the scripture be your authority in determining what ought to be done and what ought not to be done. Knowing this, you should do here only such actions as sanctioned by scriptural ordinance." The study of ethics is, therefore, necessary to comprehend merit and demerit, virtue and sin, duty and the like.
With consciousness comes wisdom which weighs the actions of others to determine whether they will lead to the desired goal but such evaluation may not always be right, because each one has his own criteria which may or may not be dependable. The study of ethics enables us to distinguish between the right and the wrong or between moral and immoral objects and actions.
The study of ethics helps us in taking right decisions without which human life is of no significance. Without knowledge there can
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| SR No. | 525036 |
| Book Title | Sramana 1999 01 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Shivprasad |
| Publisher | Parshvanath Vidhyashram Varanasi |
| Publication Year | 1999 |
| Total Pages | 166 |
| Language | Hindi |
| Classification | Magazine, India_Sramana, & India |
| File Size | 6 MB |