Ethnicity and Religious Heritage

Author(s): T U Mehta
Publisher: T U Mehta

Page 94

Jainism and Democracy
89
the law of karmå automatically works out evenly and justly without fear or favor. This is the essense of democracy. As Peter Richelieu puts it at P.18 of his book A Soul's Journey, when the law of karma works, "There is no reward, no punishment, but there is result, there is cause and effect, and the law acts just as with higher worlds as it acts down here on the physical plane."
In this connection it is important to remember that Jain theory of "Bhakti" (devotion) is not to seek favor, as those souls who have attained Siddhahood have been "Vitaraga" i.e. one who has shed all likes, dislikes and passions of every type and that is exactly why the most sacred "mantra" of Jains called "Navkar Mantra" offers obiscience not to any individual Jain prophet but generally to all those who have been able to transcend worldly desires and passions. Acharya Samantbhadra has beautifully expressed this idea while expressing his devotion to a "Vitraga" as under, "Oh Lord", he says, "You are really a Vitraga (one who has shed all passions) and so you are not pleased by prayers nor displeased