Jainism

Author(s): Vallabh Smarak Nidhi
Publisher: Vallabh Smarak Nidhi

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rnal foes ? He who conquers hinıself, through himself will obtain happiness.17
The noble, human character of Jainism makes it free from mystic ritual, unholy superstition and the feeling of helplessness or inferiority. That is why the late Virchand Raghavagi Gandhi, 18 the first torchbearer of the message of Jainism to the modern West declared in one of his speeches:
The philosophy of the Jainas is not essentially founded on any particular writing or external revelation but on the unfoldment of spiritual consciousness, which is the birth-right of every soul. Books, writing and scriptures may illustrate, wholly or in part, this truth, but the ultimate fact remains that no mere words can give full expression to the truths of Jainism, which must be felt and realized within. 19
According to Jain metaphysics, this universe is without beginning or end. It has always existed and will continue to exist for over, undergoing countless changes which are produced
17 Uttaradhyana, IX. 35.
18 Delegate to the parliament of religions, Chicago Word's fair. 1893.
19 The Jaina philosophy, pp. 15-16.