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RELIGION AND COMPARATIVE RELIGION 73
Unfortunately this teaching was given in a fragmentary, disjointed disconnected manner, and therefore does not readily command the respect of our modernized understanding, but there is no doubt that the total destruction of desire it is that is aimed at in it. The scientific study of religion reveals the fact that there is nothing in the doctrine that is really unacceptable to reason, when its properly worked out practical side is taken into consideration.
I think this much will suffice for the establishment of the unity of teachings between Jainisni and Christianity. For want of time I shall not enter into the scriptures of the other religions but will pass on to the allegorical aspect of the teachings without further preface.
I select the charming personification of Agni from the Hindu Pantheon for elucidation, as his is one of the strangest of figures among gods. (See pages 183-185 of the Confluence of Opposites).
I may say that to-day there exists a valuable work, in three volumes, by a learned Hindu writer which explains hundreds of such pictograms as the one I have explained today before you. There has been published recently a similar work by a Mahomedan investigator which explains many of the allegories of Islam. The Zoroastrian allegorical teaching is partially explained in the Bundahish. In this connection I may refer to some of my own books which explain a good many of the subtle conceptions of different faiths, to bring out their hidden charm and the unity amongst the prevailing religions of the day. I may add that a true and lasting reconciliation among different religions is not possible to-day except by the proper interpretation of the pictorial script. We shall then also discover the real guarantee of truth to lie in an agreement between science and reason and the scriptures of the diverse faiths.
I shall now explain to you the significance of the fascinating allegory of the Fall in the book of Genesis. The story is known to you all, I think, and, therefore, I shall proceed with its explanation at once. (See pages 188 et seg of the Confluence of Opposites.)
Such is the real purport of the story of the “Fall," As I have said the allegory is one of the most fascinating ones.
10 Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
