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Compassion Towards Animals
In the present times, those, who have compassion for animals, talk of protection to be given to animals, while, those, who observe cruelty being meted out to animals, believe that the human race itself would in future be put in jeopardy due to such treatment given to animals. Nature and animals may probably be able to exist without man, but man cannot live in isolation from nature and animals. That is why projects like "Save the tiger" and "Save the elephant" have been undertaken to protect the animals and to preserve their rights. Quite a few species of animals are on the path towards complete extinction and a few species are in the category of being endangered. Half of the tropical forests which have been the habitat or abode of wild animals have been destroyed in the beginning of this century. How many species live on this earth is only a matter of conjecture, but estimates of their number approximate between s million and 30 million. Out of these only about 1-2
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Compassion Towards Animals million have been identified and biologists believe that several millions are on road to extinction in this century itself, while 15 millions of the remaining are likely to be extinct during the next few decades thereafter.
Ahimsa, non-violence, has been the corner-stone of Jainism. Ahimsa is one of the basic virtues. Nowhere else in the other religious traditions has this basic virtue been so scientifically, scrupulously and thoroughly integrated with the main doctrine. Jainism is the only tradition which has consistently allowed this tenet to enter into the very essentials of its teachings and practices. This singular uncompromising emphasis on Ahimsa is the special and exclusive feature of Jainism. In Jainism, Ahimsa is not mere human sympathy; it is empathy, the urge to identify oneself completely with other persons, other living beings, and the whole universe.
Non-violence is the heart of Jainism. Positively stated, Jainism is a religion of compassion, universal love and friendliness. It aims at the welfare of all living beings, and not of man alone. It maintains that living beings are infinite, all so called empty spaces in the universe are filled with minute living beings.
According to it, there are countless single-sense organisms that take the subtlest possible units of material elements - earth, water, fire and air - as their bodies. Fresh earth is alive, but when it is baked, it becomes dead. Fresh water from a well, etc. is alive, but when it is boiled or influenced by mixing some other substance, it becomes dead. Vegetables, trees, plants, fruits, etc. do have life, but when they are dried, cut or cooked,
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