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Bhagwan Mahavir ]
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very short time. The enemies surrendered to Abhu who now stood victorious All were astonished.
A Durbar was held for the reception of Abhu. The queen thanked the Commander-in-chief for his bravery, and said, 'We were in great mis-apprehension when you began to mutter 'q-aur' on the battle field, but now every one is astonished at your unparallelled victory.
The Commander-in-chief said, "Your Majesty! My vow of Ahimsa is spiritual and it is closely connected with my Atman. I have vowed not to kill any living being for selfish considerations. My body is the property of the state, and as such I am bound to sacrifice it for the good of the state. My soul alone is mine and therefore my vow is limited only to keeping it away from selfish Himsa".
From this historical example, the reader can very well know how a Grihastha or house-holder observes his vow of Ahimsa.
Now without saying anything from our side on the principle of Jain Ahimsa, we would give here the views of two non-Jains Scholer, who have made an impartial study of this subject. The first is an extract from the article of Mr. Liladhar Vatsala, and the other from the article of Mahatama Gandhi, the greatest devotee of Ahimsa; both are published in the "Modern Review " They are as follows:
1. Mr. Liladhar Vatsala on Jain Ahimsa:
(a) Jain Religion occupies the first and the highest place among all those religions which accept Ahimsa as one of their main principles.
(b) It is never the instruction of Jaina Religion that
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