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This liberalism of the Jainas on the methods of worship can be supported by the legends of the previous lives of Mahāvīra. It is said that Mahāvīra in his previous existences, was many times ordained as a monk of other sects, where he practiced austerities and attained heaven.
As for scriptures, the Jainas' outlook is likewise liberal. They firmly believe that a false scripture (Mithya-Śruta) may be a true scripture (Samyak-Śruta) for a person of right attitude; and true scripture may turn false for a person of perverse attitude. It is not the scripture but the attitude of the follower which makes it true or false. It is the vision of the interpreter and practitioners that counts. In the Nandisūtra this standpoint is clearly explained. Thus we can say that the Jainas are neither rigid nor narrow minded in this regard.
REFERNCES OF RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE IN JAINA WORKS
References to religious tolerance are abundant in Jainas history. Jaina thinkers have consistently shown deference to other ideologies and faiths. In the Sūtrakrtanga the second earliest Jaina work (c. 2nd cent. B.C.), it is observed that those who praise their own faith and views and discard those of their opponents, possess malice against them and hence remain confined to the cycle of birth ant death. In another famous Jaina work of the same period, the Isibhasiyam, the teaching of the forty five renowned saints of Sramanical and Brahmanicals schools of thought such as Narada, Bharadvaja, Mankhali-Gośala and many others have been presented with due regards. They are remembered as Arhatrsi and their teachings are regarded as an Agama.
In the history of world religions there is hardly any example in which the teachings of the religious teachers of the opponent
297 Jainism and its History
