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JAIN JOURNAL
is based on a deep philosophy and not on the principle of love and amity. The animistic belief of the Jainas, to which I have already referred to in the above, 21 supplies the philosophical basis for ahimsa. “According to the archaic science the whole cosmos was alive, and the basic laws of its life were constant throughout. One should therefore practise nonviolence (ahimsa) even upon the smallest, mutest, least conscious living being."22 The Jainas in their day to day dealings observe this principle of ahimsa in a great detail e.g. Jaina monks of particular sects wear a veil before their mouths to avoid causing damage to invisible insects, they in general try to take their mealbefore duskto avoid injuryto small insects, and often think of sufferings to the flower trees before plucking flowers and so on. Indeed, the Jainas have carried the doctrine of ahimsā to the extreme. Thus, A. Barth is perfectly right when he says, “No Hindu sect has carried ahimsā further i.e. respect for and abstinence from everything that has life.”23 But the source of this ahimsa in the Jainas is not pity and amity towards others, it is respect for others because, they think, the others have life in as much they have and hence they have no right to injure or harm others in any form. In fact Lord Mahavira himself explained the basis of ahimsā thus : “Non-violence and kindness to living beings is kindness to oneself for thereby one's own self is saved from various kinds of sins and the consequent suffering and is thus able to secure its own welfare."24 Thus a Jaina, in the matter of ahimsā is moved by his head and not by heart. Hence, I feel that there is no escape from the conclusion arrived at by Prof. Basham.
The Jaina Cosmology
To understand the system of the Jainas, it is necessary to have a brief idea about their views on the world. They regard the universe as beginningless and endless, that is to say, the universe, with all its constituents or components, is without a beginning or an end, being everlasting and eternal. There is no scope for the periodic dissolution and recreation of the universe. "Therefore, there is no place in Jainism for an independent person like God as creator or destroyer.""25
21 See above, p. 64, 22 Zimmer H., Op. cit., p. 278. 28 Barth, A., The Religions of India, Varanashi, 1963, The Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series
office, p. 145. 24 Vide Jain J. P., Op. cit., p. 187. 25 S. Sanghvi, 'Some Fundamental Principles of Jainism', The Cultural Heritage of
India, Calcutta, 1958. The Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture, vol. 1, p. 440.
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