Bhagavana Mahavira and his Relevance in Modern Times

Author(s): Narendra Bhanavat, Prem Suman Jain, V P Bhatt
Publisher: Akhil Bharat Varshiya Sadhumargi Jain Sangh

Page 114

World Problems and Jain Ethics
achievement to the credit of the 19th century. But its gains seem to have been more than counterbalanced by the propaganda with which the atmosphere is literally charged today and which can be picked up by radio machine anywhere on land or sea or air. Nor is the situation radically different in the home politics of States. Standards of veracity are proverbially low in elections and touch lower depths in the intrigues that surround courts and bureaucracies.
Here again the way of truth is as straight as that of nonviolence. There is a proverb that truth conquers (Satyameva Jayate). It is true if it means that truth or sincerity prevails in the long run. But it is misleading if it is held to signify that truthfulness in word, thought and deed is an easy road to success. Today the path of sincerity is strewn with thorns. It is beset with opposition, persecution and suffering. It demands courage, fortitude and stoical endurance. Untruthfulness, indeed, is an aspect of the process that revolves round force and can be eliminated only with the latter. It may be possible for men today to speak the literal truth in private life. But that does not touch more than the fringe of the problem. The problem is two-fold; how to render it feasible for the average man to behave with perfect sincerity, honesty and straightforwardness in private as well as public life and how to render it feasible for corporations; political parties and States, specially in their dealings with foreigners, to maintain the same standards of sincerity and frankness as are expected in private life.
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The social interest demands an environment in which truth pay not only in the long run but also immediately and readily. Here again we perceive that life is a single whole; its aspects are interdependent; things inevitably form a circle. It is necessary to break a vicious circle at as many points as possible. It is patent that a conscious effort at higher standards of truth is necessary both in national and international affairs. The higher the standards of truthfulness, the easier it would become to lift society from the present rut to a place of greater reason and higher morality.
Honesty (Asteya):
It is obvious that such a social re-organisation postulates cordial and habitual respect on the part of every one for the rights of every one else. This is the inner core of the third Aņuvrata