Jain Concept of Peace

Author(s): Sagarmal Jain
Publisher: Z_Vijyanandsuri_Swargarohan_Shatabdi_Granth_012023.pdf

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superstition and repulsion consequences into intolerant conduct. The Jainas therefore lay stress on the elimination of attachment, the root cause of bias and intolerance.
Though in Jainism, right faith plays an important role it is one of its three "jewels" - it is the blind faith, which causes intolerance. Jainism therefore does not support blind faith. Jaina thinkers maintain that the right faith should be followed by right knowledge. The faith seconded by right knowledge or truthful reasoning cannot be blind one. According to Jaina thinkers, reason and faith are complementary and actually there is no contention between the two. Faith without reason, as the Jaina thinkers aver, is blind and reason without faith is unsteady or vaccilating. They hold that the religious codes and rituals should be critically analysed. In the Uttaradhyayanasutra, Gautama, the chief disciple of Mahavira strongly supports this view before Kesi, the pontiff of the church of Jina Parsva. Said he "the differences in the Law must be critically evaluated through the faculty of reasoning. It is the reason which can ascertain the truth of Law"25
If one maintains that religion has to be solely based on faith and there is no place for reason in it, then he will unfailingly devlop an outlook that only his prophet is the only saviour of mankind; his mode of worship is the only way of experiencing the bliss and the Laws or Commands of his scripture are only the right one and thus he remains unable to make a critical estimate of his religious prescriptions. While one who maintains that the reason also plays an important role in the religious life, will critically evaluate the pros and cons of religious prescriptions, rituals and dogmas. An "attached" or biased person believes in the dictum 'Mine is true'. While the detached or unbiased person believes in the dictum 'Truth is mine'. Acarya Haribhadra says: "I possess no bias for Lord Mahavira and no prejudice against Kapila and other saints and thinkers; whosoever is rational and logical ought to be accepted.26 Thus, when religion tends to be rational, there will hardly be any room for intolerance. One who is thoroughly rational in religious matters, certainly would not be rigid and intolerant.
Dogmatism and fanaticism are the born children of absolutism. An extremist or absolutist holds that whatsoever he propounds is correct and what others say is false, while a relativist is of the view that he and his
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