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( XVI) which is unique in the history of the world. And this is why life in India really throbs in religion, where as in the West, it has been more or less a fashion to attend the Church.
But to return to the point at issue : as in India the function of philosophy is to support a particular form of Faith, so the function of Jainism is to harmonise all the contending religions of the world. And it is here that Jainism supersedes all the other forms of faith and creed. For, it is philosophy and religion both rolled in one. A little reflection on the theory itself and its predominance from time to time, along with its growth and spread, will prove the truth and validity of our statement. Will any one tell the world what is it that so boldly declares the glorious dignity of man? Is it the civilization that creates for man new wants and desires only to bind him down more tightly to the mires of the world? Or is it that reconciles for man all the seeming differences without sacrificing anything of permanent interest, kills that egotism , by virtue of which his envenomed passions howl at every disappointinent, and ultimately opens out to him the way to perfection, real happiness and
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