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It is the first and foremost of the five vows, which a Right believer, on the path of Right-Conduct, follows. The other four are abstention from falsehood, from unpermitted possession or user of another's property, from sexual intercourse, and from possession of temporalities.
JAIN JOURNAL
The five vows are followed in the completest form, and to their fullest extent, by saints, viz., persons who have cut off all connection with temporal objects, have adopted asceticism, and are ever engaged in austerities, study, discourse, contemplation, meditation, and selfrealisation.
They are followed in a lesser degree, and to an extent varying with his spiritual advancement by every Right-believer, who has entered upon the path of Liberation.
Jainism is a practical religion and ensures worldly peace, prosperity and progress. A good Jain may happen to be engaged in a worldly pursuit of any kind. He may be a king, a statesman, a military commander, a soldier, a trader, an artisan or an agriculturist, and yet he is in a position to adopt the vow of Ahimsa and other vows, to the extent of his limitations and capacities, situation and circumstances in life, and be a good and true Jain.
The profession and practice of Ahimsa is not, as has been wrongly assumed or asserted by misinformed, ill-informed, or un-informed authors, writers, and speakers, incompatible or inconsistent with social progress, municipal administration, political development, human comforts, health, hygiene, commerce and agriculture.
It has already been said that for a Jain house-holder, the practice of Ahimsa is a question of degree, and would vary with his capacity, and limitations, physical and spiritual. The principle, the truth, the article of faith, is "to live and let live".
When belief in the principle of Ahimsa is truly and firmly established, a Right-believer who has not developed his capacities so as to follow it completely, and to the fullest extent, will yet refrain from causing himsă as far as possible, while engaged in the usual daily pursuits of his avocation in life. He gives up the commission of himsä, deliberately, and he is as careful as he possibly can be, in avoiding its commission in the performance of the daily duties of life. He renounces the use of flesh and wine, which cannot be obtained without the commission of
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