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likely, therefore, that (Mahavira) when he left his home and set out for the life of a homeless monk. he joined the order of Parsavanath with which he was seqnainted before,
IV. The fourth objection urged against cur book is that we have said: "He (Mahavira ) did not believo in God." Our critic urges that “Jains do believe in God but not as the Creator or the Destroyer of the Universe. According to them any soul may obtain perfection and thus become God !"
. This point does not need any elaborate explanation on our part. The difference in the two views about Jain belief in God-as stated in our book and that expressed above by our critic is, in our opinion, slight though very complicated and one that involves highly technical and metaphysical discussion. Our critic, we do hope, would agree with us that such minute differences can not be intelligently grasped by young students for whom this small primer of Indian History is meant. We would also urge that, if, by God we understand, as an average intelligent man does, a Divine Creative spirit, Jainism is definitely atheistic. In their philosophy no place is reserved for God as such. Rather the belief in a Supreme Deity is empliatically denied. According to their belief, a most perfect man is God; 'for any soul', says our critic, that may obtain perfection can become God ! To quote again from Mrs. Sinclair Stevenson,
