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COMPENDIUM OF JAINISM
that infest them and start the process of self-purification. Cultivation of a sense of detachment to the extent possible is the first step in the realization of the goal.
It is common experience that happiness and unhappiness are personal in character. All creatures shun unhappiness and they forget that it is largely of their own making. Happiness starts with a spiritual experience founded on a feeling of love and freedom from hatred; it consists in freedom from greed and avarice.
Jainism insists that charity is a part of daily duty of every house-holder. The Jaina community in the North particularly is well-known for its wealth as also for charity. They have built many hospitals and educational institutions. They have tried to alleviate misery and suffering. They have not forgotten establishment of charities for publication of religious literature which is so vital for maintenance of cultural standards and spread of ethical doctrines. Perhaps it is the only community which has built hospitals for animals and birds, though the Sindhis and Hindu Missions have of late followed suit.
The relationship between ends and means is of frequent concern in modern thought. It is well-known that Kautilya, Hitler and Machiavelli advocated that the end justified the means. Mahāvira, Buddha, Gandhi and some other humanitarian thinkers and philosophers insisted that good means are necessary for achieving good ends. The Jaina doctrines have constantly urged the need of sound morals for happy living. Even though some people have dubbed Jainism as a pessimistic religion, it is unique in establishing close relationship between happiness and goodness, on the one hand, and misery end wickedness, on the other. The inexorable law of Karma lays down that you reap what you sow. There is no intermediate force or power which can change this law.
Another problem which worries the modern society is the problem of sex. Thinking in the Western countries has so much
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