Jainism and World Problems

Author(s): Champat Rai Jain
Publisher: ZZZ Unknown

Page 75

JAINISM AND WORLD PROBLEMS
which one displays and develops in his heart towards the conquered races is sure to infect its own people, in the fulness of time, and thereafter it is only a question of how long will it take to poison the entire organization. The West went out to conquer the East, fought and overpowered the weaker nations there. Lately the West was found to be indulging in an orgy of bloodshed on its own sacred soil ; and to-day it is afraid that its nations are heading on straight for another war! And, as already stated, the West has also been enriching itself at the expense of the East; but to-day its nations are not able to pay their own debts !
Let us now try to live on the lines of ahimsa which means universal love, and we shall soon find that the face of the world will be changed for the better. Unfortunately, the possession of power is burdened with a delusive curse. Its wielder is led to think that what lie las obtained is the outcome of his own cleverness, and that he will always be equal to any emergency that may arise. But just in this lies the error. All the Caesars and Czars have committed it, at one time or another, and gone under, many of them without leaving a trace of themselves or of their empires. It is ahimsa which binds together humanity into one brotherhood, based on real love, and it is ahimsa which can help us at this stage, as nothing else can.
The Jaina Culture, I may point out, proceeds by removing from the human heart all tinge of selfish brutality and self-aggrandisement, so that the citizen cannot but love Peace, and insist on its being maintained. The Jaina is not a coward and will fight for the protection of his hearth and home and ideals. Many Jaina kings can be mentioned who have fought against powerful foes and overcome them. Only one name will here suffice for our purpose, that of Chandragupta, who was known to the Greeks as Sandracotas, and who defeated the Greek army in the fourth century B, C. His empire extended from the north of India to