Book Title: Jain Stories 01
Author(s): Mahendramuni, K C Lalwani
Publisher: A B Jain Shwetambar Terapanth Samaj

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Page 9
________________ - PREFACE Life with most people is a limited territory in which they fulfil a routine till they go out. They are used to live within this limit and have neither the will nor the capacity to break through its bounds. Completelý surrendered to environment and nurtured by it, they have neither the urge nor the ambition to go beyond it and get established in their own authority, so that when at last time comes for them to leave their earthly, abode, they do so without virtually leaving any mark behind. They are mere tools rather than artisans, mere slaves rather than masters It is a remote chance, a rare possibility, that an event somewhat worthwhile ever takes place in a life like this, which, therefore, remains dull, flat and pedestrian to the core And in the absence of events, this sort of life does not produce any history It is just historyless, which is the same thing as saying that the lifestory of most men terminates with them In contrast, there may be a few others, almost in every age and in every country, who break through the limits of life to attain a wider expanse. They live more for others than for themselves. They are the real harbingers of progress The experience of such, men contributes to improve the quality of human life, and since there is a succession of such men from age to age, the progress upward of humanity has remained unabated. Such men are the real creators of history, and it is a knowledge of this history that serves as a guide to understanding the progress of human society Events in the life of such creative men, floating down the current of time, become, at a gap of years and centuries, a sort of tradition, a heritage, a treasure for the community. They inspire the creative writers and get recorded in the literature which, in fact, is a reflection of life In pro

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