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98 : Śramaņa, Vol 66, No. 1, January-March 2015 the great tradition of Jain ācāryas through their sermons and writings, and as practiced by the laity for centuries together, has imperceptibly percolated in Indian thought and permeated the Indian social order. R. Williams observes 18 that 'Jainism has strived for centuries to permeate the Indian social order, without challenging it, with the spirit of compassion. The striking features of Indian culture, particularly with its humanity, higher level of kindliness and gentleness”,19 could be, to a considerable-extent, owing to the Jaina contribution through its professed virtues of Ahimsă (non-violence) and Anekānta-drști(non-absolutistic attitude) etc. The Indian History and particularly those of the History of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthan, are eloquent about the mode and magnitude of such contribution.20 Vegetarianism, attitude of charity, sense of accommodation and tolerance, which are prominently found among the peoples of these regions even today, hold evidence to this fact taking an peep into the way of living of the present day Jaina laity or śrāvaka, would very well encourage our approach. Behind Dr. Annie Besant's impression of the Jaina householder as "quiet, selfcontrolled, dignified, rather silent, rather reserved’21 etc., lies the effect of these virtues. What could be the reason behind the findings of Dr.V.A.Sangave22 that comparatively there is found a very small number of criminals among the Jainas and that the habitual criminals are not at all found among them? Moreover drinking habits, as we have observed, are found to the minimum degree among them. It is also interesting to note that recently, the Department of Social Anthropology at the university of Cambridge has organized an International Seminar on the Jainas as a Community, on a major consideration that Jaina community is the only community in the world today that practiced non-violence, to which there was an excellent response from social scientists, social anthropologists and social historians from all over the world.23 When we look at the Jaina householders from the point of view of the virtue of limited attachment to worldly possessions, some of the Jaina sterling qualities and business and trade ethics have no parallels in other business quarters in India. It is interesting to note that some
| SR No. | 525091 |
| Book Title | Sramana 2015 01 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Sundarshanlal Jain, Ashokkumar Singh |
| Publisher | Parshvanath Vidhyashram Varanasi |
| Publication Year | 2015 |
| Total Pages | 118 |
| Language | Hindi |
| Classification | Magazine, India_Sramana, & India |
| File Size | 9 MB |