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stress on the elimination of attachment, the root cause of bias and intolerance.
Though, in Jainism, right faith plays an important role - it is one of its three “jewels' - it is the blind faith, which causes intolerance. Jainism, therefore, does not support blind faith. Jaina thinkers maintain that the right faith should be followed by right knowledge. The faith seconded by right knowledge or truthful reasoning cannot be blind one. According to Jaina thinkers, reason and faith are complementary and actually there is no contention between the two. Faith without reason, as the Jaina thinkers aver, is blind and reason without faith is unsteady or vacillating. They hold that the religious codes and rituals should be critically analyzed. In the UttarādhyayanaSūtra, Gautama, the chief disciple of Mahāvīra strongly supports this views before Kesi, the pontiff of the church of Jina PārsvanāthaSaid he, “The differences in the Law must be critically evaluated through the faculty of reasoning. It is the reason which can ascertain the truth of Law.”
If one maintains that religion has to be solely based on faith and there is no place for reason in it, then he will unfailingly develop an outlook that only his prophet is the only savior of mankind; his mode of worship is the only way of experiencing the bliss and the Laws or commands of his scripture are only the right one hence he is unable to make a critical estimate of his religious prescriptions. While one who maintains that the reason also plays an important role in the religious life, will critically evaluate the pros and cons of religious prescriptions, rituals and dogmas. Ācārya Haribhadra says “ possess no bias for Bhagwan Mahāvīra and no prejudice against Kapila and other saints and thinkers; whosoever isrational
317 | Jainism and its History
