________________
WY
दिवाक
R S OF RECORRER ONE PRATO
SHOULD BE TRY AND FREE OF CHINESE THIRT
OF FLYING IN THE BAT समाना भी एकही माला हो. गरो मा हे।
यी
மனின் विनायक
CHARITY
BOX
F
Jainism's highest commandment forbids violence not only against humans, but also against animals; at a bird hospital in Old Delhi, vets treat broken wings, administer medicine, remove tumors, and more. (Hashim Badani)
I'd come to the bird hospital, and to India, to see firsthand the Jains' moral system at work in the world. Jains make up less than 1 percent of India's population. Despite millennia spent criticizing the Hindu majority, the Jains have sometimes gained the ear of power. During the 13th century, they converted a Hindu king, and persuaded him to enact the subcontinent's first animal-welfare laws. There is evidence that the Jains influenced the Buddha himself. And when Gandhi developed his most radical ideas about nonviolence, a Jain friend played philosophical muse.
In the state of Gujarat, where Gandhi grew up, I saw Jain monks walking barefoot in the cool morning hours to avoid car travel, an activity they regard as irredeemably violent, given the damage it inflicts on living organisms, from insects to larger animals. The monks refuse to eat root vegetables, lest their removal from the earth disturb delicate subterranean ecosystems. Their white robes are cotton, not silk, which would require the destruction of silkworms. During monsoon season, they
