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Gentlemen, Jainism is also a religion whose glory the dumb creatures sing with their mute tongues, for, tell me, gentlemen, what other religion has praclaimed the total prohibition of animal slaughter for any purpose whatsoever, and what other religion is practically so very punctilious about animal life. Then, gentlemen, I stand before you this noon to speak on Jainism, a religion, which was founded and continued by Kshatriyas, and a religion which can properly claim to head the list of religions that have for their motto Ahimsa Paramo Dharmah !
• Jainism mis-underatood.
This Jainism has been most pitiably mis-under
stood. Its origin has been misere understood, its tenets have been
mis-understood, its philosophy has been mis-understood, and its antiquity has been mis. understood. And in short it has been mis-understood wholesale. It has not only been mis-understood, but spitefully found fault with. People not only misunderstand it, but also cast slurs upon it out of spite, out of enmity, and out of faction. Some have called it a Nastika religion. Some have called it a religion of the Banias and Shravagis. Some have regarded it as an offshoot of Buddhism. Some have looked upon it as a religion that took its rise upon the revi. val of Brahmanism under Shankaracharya. Some have regarded it as a product of Brahmanism. Some have called Mahavira its founder. Some have called Parshya Nath its originator. Some
