Ahimsa and Jainism

Author(s): Vijayvallabhsuri
Publisher: Vallabhsuri Smarak Nidhi

Page 15

The Philosophy of Mahavira
by KAMTA PRASAD JAIN
INDIA has been the homeland of truth and spiritual wisdom from time immemorial. Indians have realised the oneness of life in the midst of diversity. Our seers have awakened in our hearts a spirit of universal kinship, based on the belief that within every being resides a soul similar to our own. The Tirthankaras of the Jain religion were the fore-runners of this humane teaching. They unfurled the flag of universal spirituality on which were written the golden words, Ahimsa paramo dharma (Non-injury is the highest religion). They taught the principle of universal synthesis, called Anekanta (many-sidedness or relativity of thought) to mankind. Lord Vardhamana Mahavira was the last of these blessed Tirthahkaras who proclaimed: