________________
India's Message to America Because of these principles and doctrines underlying our lives as a people, from she earliest ages, we have been the victims of misgovernment and tyranny through oppression, from the first Persian invasion to the latest Christian invasion and conquest, but through it all we have borne ourselves with a patience, a patience of hope without a parallel in history, firmly adhering to our ancient faith, believing that in the end goodness will triumph over all oppression, all tyranny, for it is an axiom with us that goodness is the highest power and will eventually prevail. Here, you may say, that such is not the history of India. I will, therefore, confirm my own statement by that of one of the greatest Oriental Scholars in Europe, Prof. Max Muller :
"I confess it has always seemed to me one of the saddest chapters in the history of the world to see the early inhabitants of India, who knew nothing of the rest of the world, of the mighty empires of Egypt and Babylon, of their wars and conquests, who wanted nothing from the outside world and were happy and content in their own earthly paradise, protected as it seemed by the mountain ramparts in the north and watched on every other side by the jealous waves of the Indian Ocean? To see these happy people suddenly overrun by foreign warriors, whether Persians, Greeks or Macedonians, or at a later time, Scythians, Mohammedans, Mongolians and Christians, and conquered for no fault of theirs, except that they had neglected to cultivate the art of killing their neighbour.
They themselves never wished for conquests, they simply wished to be left alone and to be allowed to work out their views of life which was contemplative and joyful, though deficient in one point, namely, the art of self-defense and destruction. They had no idea that a tempest could break upon them and when the black clouds came suddenly driving through the northern and western mountain-passes, they had no shelter, they were simply
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
