________________
(1)
A LECTURE ON JAINISM,
GENTLEMEN,
I stand before you this noon to speak on a religion which was preached in this Bharat
Introduction
varsha in time out of mind by the Kshatriyas, a religion that was preached neither by the Brahmans, nor by the Vaishyas, nor by the Sudras, but I say, by the Kshatriyas. I stand before you to speak on a religion that was preached not by such Kshatriyas as hunt life, sacrifice life, and eat life, but by Kshatriyas who made a universal proclamation "Ahimsa Paramo Dharmah!" "Destroy no living creature! Injure no living creature! This is the highest religion;" who have said thus, spoken thus, declared thus, and explained thus: "As is my pain when I am knocked, struck, menaced, beaten, burned, tormented, or deprived of life; and as I feel every pain and agony from death down to the pulling out of a hair; in the same way, be sure of this, all kinds of living beings feel the same pain and agony as I, when they are illtreated in the same way. For this reason, all sorts of living beings should not be beaten, nor treated with violence, nor abused, nor tormented, nor deprived of life. '
Gentlemen, I stand before you this noon to speak on a religion whose glory the dumb creatures, the cows, the goats, the sheep, the lambs, the hens, the pigeons, and all other living creatures, the beasts and the birds
