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Religious Exclusion : a threat to Social Equality in Jain perspective
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non-violence prohibits a man to trouble any being in any form. It means non-violence cannot be maintained without social equalities. In the same way social equality cannot be seen without maintaining non-violence.
Positive Form: Non-violence has also positive form. Love, affection, kindness, charity and Co-operation etc. constitute the positive form of non-violence. These constituents of non- violence are always to be practised. But the person who knows the following reality found in all persons equally can provide others love, affection, kindness, charity, co-operation etc.
No being likes pain All beings like pleasure.
So the theory of non-violence enhances both external equality as well as internal equality of an individual which are the foundations of social equality. Truth (Satya) and Social Equality
Social equality needs confidence which cannot be created by speaking false. Where there is confidence or belief there is equality. By speaking false a man cheats others which make the social relation weak. Cheating creates distance between cheater and the cheated one. Social equality is based on the nearness between the persons living in a society. It needs fraternity which may be achieved on the basis of truth not due to untruth. Non-stealing (Asteya) and Social Equality
Stealing means to pic-up something intentionally without permission of the owner. Stealing is a kind of misconduct which causes conflict and quarrel. There can be equality between two thieves. In the same way there can be equality between two non-thieves. But there can be no equality between a thief and non-thief. Moreover stealing is an unsocial and unethical activity. So social equality needs non-stealing.
Celibacy (Brahmacarya) and Social Equality
In Jainism to practise celibacy the householder is advised to comply with
i. Svādārasantoșa ii. Svapatisantosa
A man should enjoy sexual life with his wife only. Similarly a woman should get herself satisfied by having physical relation with her husband only. The violation of these rules causes conflict and crime in the society. The celibacy causes peace in the personal life as well as social life. In the absence of peace there can be no equality. Therefore, to attain equality in the personal life as well as in social life celibacy is very important. Non-possessiveness (Aparigraha) and Social Equality
Generally people want to have different things as much as they can. They do not care for others. They try to possess various things not for themselves, but for their sons and grand sons too. they do not think that whether they are doing something social or unsocial, ethical or unethical. In this way they exploit other persons, which causes necessarily social-unequality.
Therefore, one should practise the vow of non-possessiveness. This vow instructs men to possess only those things, which are necessary for maintaining a normal life. Comfort and luxury cause exploitation, which creates inequality in the society. So for having equality in the society nonpossessiveness must be practiced. Anekāntavāda and Social Equality
Anekāntavāda is the foundation on which edifice of Jainism has been erected. It is also named as Sāpekșatāvāda or the theory of relativity. It is expressed verbally in the form of Syādavāda and practically in the form of Ahimsāvāda. It has propounded that reality is multidimensional. It possesses infinite characteristics which cannot
| SR No. | 525067 |
| Book Title | Sramana 2009 01 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Shreeprakash Pandey, Vijay Kumar |
| Publisher | Parshvanath Vidhyashram Varanasi |
| Publication Year | 2009 |
| Total Pages | 100 |
| Language | Hindi |
| Classification | Magazine, India_Sramana, & India |
| File Size | 14 MB |