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Preface to the First Edition
Man is homo sapiens'. He has built civilizations and destroyed them too. Magnificent empires were built, mighty in their day. It was difficult to doubt their power. But their day is done and their courts "the lion and the lizard keep'. We have seen the phenomenal advancement of science in our own day. As we gaze at the incredible rapidity of scientific progress we are losing touch with the spiritual side of man. We are on cross-roads of life, between two worlds; 'one dead and the powerless to be born'. We see everywhere social and political chaos. There is distrust and frustration, and for a decade or more we have lived on the brink of another world war more disastrous than the earlier too, which would mean total destruction of human race. Whether it would mean praļaya we do not know. But when it comes we can only see the broken bits of civilization, if we are to survive this catastrophe. And all this is due to a wrong approach to the understanding of the problems of life and experience. A new kind of a materialism is being emphasised today wherein we pay exclusive attention to material comforts and ignore the higher values. But to understand life and nature we have to transcend the narrow partial points of view and adopt a synoptic view of life. We have to realize that others' points of view have also to be considered and respected. Dogmatic approach of looking at the problems leads to intolerance and then to violence. Jainas have preached the synoptic view of life in their theory of Anekānta. It emphasises the catholic outlook towards life. Intellectual non-violence, respect for other points of view are the key-note of this doctrine, and that would be a panacea for all the ills of our social and political life today. Jainism is an ancient religion which prevailed even before Vardhamāna Mahāvīra, the twenty-fourth and Pārsva the twentythird Tirthańkaras. It is a pre-Aryan religion coming from the Sramana current of thought, and Sramaņa thought was prevailing in India long before the Āryans came to this country. The
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