Hajarimalmuni Smruti Granth

Author(s): Shobhachad Bharilla
Publisher: Hajarimalmuni Smruti Granth Prakashan Samiti Byavar

Page 963

१० : मुनि श्रीह जारीमल स्मृति-ग्रन्थ
same charter of rights to live and work out their ultimate destiny. The tyrant is the worst coward, though he poses to be the boldest man. The true hero is he who has mastered the animal in him. The last Tirthankara was called Mahāvīra, the great hero, because he conquered the weaknesses of the flesh.
3.
Religion :
1
In religion, the Jaina lays emphasis upon self-exertion. One must not depend upon the grace of another for his self-upliftment. Of course, the teachers of humanity, the prophets, seers and the path-finders are entitled to the respect and loyalty of all right-thinking persons. This is the reason why Mahāvira is worshipped as God. These perfected saints show their mercy only by imparting spiritual strength to the weaker souls who are victims of their own past deeds. The very contemplation and meditation of perfect teachers of humanity vouchsafes grace and spiritual strength. Grace cannot be acquired by sinners unless they turn away from the evil course of life. It is nothing but a travesty to think that the Jainis are atheists. Worship of a Personal God is not encouraged in Jaina religion, because this has the tendency to encourage sloth and a spirit of helpless dependence. However much one may speak of the infinite grace and mercy of God, one cannot have the benefit of this grace unless one helps himself and prepares himself for the appropriation of the spiritual light. The Jaina believes that every man is a potential God and one who does not believe in the Godhood of man is an atheist. 4. Philosophy: In the field of philosophy which, in one word, is the urge to realize the ultimate destiny of the soul, the Jaina thought is based upon a correct appraisal of truth and reality. So far as the world of experience is concerned, the doctrine of non-absolutism (anekanta) expresses the philosophical outlook of the Jaina thinker. The Jaina is not a dogmatist and seeks to shun extremism in thought and action. Fanaticism is the virulent expression of extremism. One believes in one's doctrine, and in the truth and infallibility of one's mode of worship attached to one's particular faith. But truth is multiform and has many facets. One therefore should not condemn another for his view, but try to appreciate the intellectual and moral foundation of the belief. If he is wrong, he must be enlightened not by physical force or tyranny of wealth and knowledge, but by sympathy and demonstration of the truth in one's own life. The sevenfold predication (saptabhangi-naya) expounds the metaphysical position of the Jaina. The Jaina is a believer in infinite number of jīvas and is not willing to dismiss the plurality as false appearance. Reality is infinite in its variety and this has to be accommodated in one's philosophical evaluation. The Jaina therefore is not a monist. He is not a subjectivist idealist who believes in the reality of his own thoughts and ideas alone. He is not a nihilist. He believes in all these onesided estimates only as facets of one infinite reality. They must be integrated into one whole. His difference with the Buddhist nihilist and the subjectivist is on the score of onesided, partial and imperfect evaluation. A thing is true in its own place and own character, but is untrue and false in another. This falsity qua another is compatible with its truth in its own sphere and nature. The Jaina does not condemn these thinkers as incorrigible and unregenerate souls destined to be condemned without any chance of redemption. The Jaina only seeks to draw the notice of the opponents to the other side of the coin. One must
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