Ahimsa the Ultimate Winner

Author(s): N P Jain
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 89

on the face of it appear austere in terms of inculcating mental and physical discipline and restraint, it has a clear potential of universally creating a healthy climate by spreading the philosophy of “Live and let Live” and “Live by need and not greed.”
Jain concept of non-violence is not a theoretical, ritual or doctrinaire concept. Far from being a religious dogma or dispensation, it is a dynamic instrument. A case in point is Martin Luther King's non-violent struggle for assertion of racial equality and protection of the legitimate human rights of the coloured population in USA. It created a deep impact on the minds and hearts of not only the Americans but indeed people all over the world.
Drug addiction, child abuse, cruelty to animals and a host of such worldwide problems can be more satisfactorily tackled through non-violent methods. While visiting Rio for the UN Earth Summit in my discussions with leading social workers I discerned that they were veering round to persuasive education to correct such social malaises and were eager to find out how the culture of non-violent approach be used as an instrument of social transformation, cultural reformation and moral rearmament.
The courage of non-violence is the most outstanding contribution of Jain Philosophy to the world. Non-violence has often been looked upon as cowardice or escapism largely because the habit or culture of violence has spread in the social fabric like a contagious disease. ECOLOGICAL CONSCIOUSNESS
The concept of ecology in enshrined in the Jain Motto of Parasparopagraho Jeevanam, which means that all living organisms, howsoever big or small, irrespective of the degree of their sensory perceptions, are bound together by mutual support and interdependence. They are and should remain in a harmonious and judicious balance with nature. The world is in peril today
Ahimsa: The Ultimate Winner
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