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THE JAINA GAZETTE. independence of your own system of personal law, and taken your stand on the Bhadrabahu Samhita. And finally, you have resolved to throw open the noble treasures of your great Bhandars to the world's gaze for the world's use, and your publication of the Sacred Books of Jainism to be crowned by an Ardhamagadhi Lexicon and Encyclopædia, as well as your magazines and periodicals which expound Jaina tenets and traditions, have nobly followed up that noble resolve.
Social Conferences and Politics. Treading the path of pilgrimage like your ancestors and like your Asiatic brethren of other faiths, you have come here primarily for a religious purpose, but you have not over-looked the ancient association of religion and life, and have taken advantage of this sacred occasion to hold a Conference of the Jain community. The Conference is, I understand, a purely religious and social one. It will have nothing to do with politics. I commend the wisdom of the promoters on this limitation. Let me not, however, be misunderstood in this commendation as putting politics outside the pale of your consideration as something to be dreaded or igno:ed. On the contrary, I feel that every educated person should take an earnest and intelligent interest in the political questions of the day, and contribute his and (I ought, perhaps, to add) her share towards the solution of the problems that must inevitably arise from the necessity of adapting the organisation of humanity to the needs of its expanding consciousness. But you, gentlemen, have assembled here as members of a particular religious community having religious and social problems peculiarly your own. Your purpose is to discuss these problems and to devise means for the progress of your community. On this occasion you are Jains first and Indians alterwards and as such you have every right to your own standpoint and may most fitly discuss therefrom your special needs and aims. But in the sphere of politics, whether concerning India as a whole or any of the areas of which it is composed, you are Indians first and Jains afterwards. As Jains you command the sympathetic interest of every one in looking at the problems of your community
from your particular standpoint Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
