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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
SHRUTSAGAR
March-2016 India passes through the hands of the Jain laity. Rajasthan and Saurashtra are the cradles of the Jain faith, and three out of their sacred mounts, namely, Abu, Shatrunjay, and Girnar, are in these countries. The officers of the State an revenue are chiefly of the Jain laity, as are the majority of the bankers from Lahore to the ocean. The chief magistrate and assessors of justice in Udeypur and most of the towns of Rajasthan, are of this sect; and as their voluntary duties are confind to the civil cases, they are as competent in these as they are the reverse in criminal cases from their tenets forbidding the shedding of blood... Mewar has, from the most remote period, afforded a refuge to the followers of the Jain faith, which was the religion of Valabhi, the first capital of Rana's ancestors, and many monuments attest the support this family has granted to its professors in all the vicissitudes of their fortunes. One of the best preserved monumental remains in India is a column most elaborately sculptured, full 70 feet in height, dedicated to Parshvanath-in Chotor. The noblest remains of sacred architecture, not in Mewar obly, but throughout Western India, are Buddhist or Jain; and the many ancient cities where this religion was fostered have inscriptions which evince their prosperity in these countries with whose history their own is interwoven. In fune, the necrological recods of the Jains bear witness to their having occupied a distinguished place in Rajput society; and the privileges they still enjoy prove that they are not overlooked.”
The Jains are advocates of education. Their benefactions to Western education and intellectual progress in India are well known. The University of Bombay owes to a Jain merchant the means of erecting a stately library and a grand campanile, which are among the chief ornaments of the city. The Calcutta University has received an endowment of two lacs of rupees from the same hand. Another Jain merchant has recently bequeathed five lacs of rupees for establishing a Jain college. Female education in Gujarat depends almost entirely on Jain liberality. Many schools, libraries, and scholarships have been founded or endowed by Jains.
Being devotedly attached to the religion of their ancestors, they
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