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THE REAL DEMOCRACY
Equality, Justice and Liberty are held as the three fundamentals of Democracy. As a matter of fact the latter two are merely an amplification of the former. Justice and liberty are natural effects of equality. At the same time it is a necessary condition for them. Justice without equality is no more a justice. Liberty without respect to equality leads to anarchism and disorder. Thus equality is the sum total of Democracy.
The Jaina term for equality is samatā. But, it is more comprehensive and far more significant. It includes harmony also within its sphere. Mere equality cannot constitute a peaceful and progressive society. The essence of individual as well as the collective life is not mere equality but equality plus harmony.
Jainism, both in its religion and philosophy, has. developed on the principle of Samatā. The daily rite prescribed for a Jaina is known as sāmāyika, which means a practice for introducing equality into life. In our inner life samatā means equilibrium and the practice of samatā means the effort to be free from the causes of mental disequilibrium. The same thing is described in the Bhagavadgitā as samata yoga. The causes of inner disequilibrium are responsible also for creating a feeling of difference between man and man which according to Jainism, is the basis of the concept of sin. The passions responsible for difference and disequilibrium are twenty
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