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

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Mahāvīra and His Relevance
George Catlin's book "In the Path of Mahatma Gandhi" points out “M. K. Gandhi's mother was under Jain influence.”
It is remarkable through the medium of Mahatma Gandhi the superiority of the weapons of Ahimsa over the armaments of destruction has been acknowledged. Gandhiji said, “Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man”. In fact Ahimsa is the royal road to peace and prosperity. It is unfortunate that all nations are busy in manufacturing the most ferocious weapons of destruction which will destroy the whole stock cf human civilization and bring about utter extinction of the entire human race. The late John F. Kennedy, Ex-president of America, speaking on June 10th, 1963 about peace for all men and for all time had said, 'A single nuclear weapon contains almost ten times the explosive force delivered by all of the allied air forces in the Second World War. He had observed, 'No nation in the history of battle ever suffered more than the Russians suffered in the course of the Second World War. At least 20 million lost their lives. - Countless homes and farms were burnt or sacked...
A third of the nation's territory including nearly two-thirds of its industrial base was turned into a wasteland.”
The need of the hour is that people should sincerely try to imbibe the spirit of Ahimsa as enunciated in the sacred Jain Literature. When Gandhiji's path was darkened by unsurmountable difficulties, C. F. Andrews says, 'He very often turned the pages of Jain works for a Kindly Light in that encircling gloom. When I met Gandhiji in Wardha Ashram in 1934 he said, 'It is remarkable that unlike vedic religion, Jainism stands for pure Ahimsā without any reservation'. In view of the pre ailing hatred, vanity, discord, animosity and other evil tendencies it appears that we have unwisely constructed our houses over a silent looking volcano and no one knows what will happen, the moment it becomes active to emit fire out of it. The ambrosia of Ahiṁsā is the only effective and powerful remedy to undo the pernicious effects of unabated inaterialism and self-centred outlook, Mere name of Ahimsā or sweet orations in its praise won't serve our purpose. It must be honestly translated into life. The term Ahimsa or non-violence is a negative one implying abstinence from killing any living being. It is also a posi'ive virtue