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emancipation. For them, not external modes of worship, but the right attitude and mentality are the things that make religious practices fruitful. The Ācārānga-sūtra mentions that the practices which are considered to be the cause of bondage may be the cause of liberation also. It is the intrinsic purity not the external practices, which makes the person religious. : Ācārya Haribhadra propounds that neither one who remains without clothes nor one who is white clad, neither a logician not a metaphysician, not a devotee of personal cult will get liberation unless he overcomes his passions.
If we accept the existence of the diversity of modes of worship according to the time, place and level of aspirants and lay stress on the intrinsic purity in religious matters then certainly we cannot condemn religious practices of a non-absolutist does not divide them into the category of true and false. They become false only when they reject the truth-value of others. It was this broader outlook of non-absolutism which made Jainas tolerant.
While expounding this tolerant outlook of the Jainas, Upadhyaya Yasovijaya (17“ century A.D.) maintains a true nonabsolutist does not disdain any faith but treats all the faiths equally as a father does to his sons, for, a non-absolutist does not have any prejudiced and biased outlook.
A true believer of 'Syadvāda' (non-absolutism) is one who pays equal regard to all the faiths. To remain impartial to the various faiths is the essence of being religious. A little knowledge which induces a person to be impartial is more worthwhile than the unilateral vast knowledge of scriptures.
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Jainism and its History
