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Life and Teaching of Mahâvîra
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material form. Atman 'is an embodiment of some form of life or the other. Human beings have the power of mental, varbal and physical activities. These create some kind of vibrations which make the Atman subject to Karma which shapes the future. The activities of mind, body and mouth determine the future of a man. Jainism makes the individual responsible for his own actions. One can brighten one's career or doom it. One is bound to suffer for his own wrong doings. Karma is a law which automatically operates and gives its fruits. There is no God in Jainism to punish or bless a man. If there is any god, he is a spiritual ideal and thus Jainism evolves a code of morality of the highest type. A man should maintain a high standard of ethical behaviour not only for his spiritual benefit but also in his dealings with all those with whom he may come in contact. Attachment and aversion are the two impulses that are to be subjugated. Freedom from these two evils is the standard by which a man's behaviour is to be judged. The highest value in the universe where every one wants to be happy is that the sentient beings are of the highest value and non-injury to the sentient is the highest aim for every man. All living beings have equal rights to live like all human beings. This brings in ahimsa or non-violence as the fundamental law of the civilised life. This is the crux of the moral instruction in Jainism. In this connection we may note the observation of Albert Schweitzer: "The laying down of the commandment not to kill and not to damage is one of the greatest events in the spiritual history of mankind. Starting from its principles founded on a world and life of denial, of abstention from action, ancient India throughout this is a period when in other respects ethics have not progressed very far-reaches the tremendous discovery that ethics know no bounds. So far as we know this is for the first time clearly expressed in Jainism."
The vow of non-violence was impressed to such an extent that even the unconscious killing of an ant while walking was regarded as a sin. It was an obsession with the Jainas and they wore a muslin mask covering the mouth and nose to prevent the involuntary inhalation of even the tiniest of insects. Ahimsa or non-violence stands as the universal form in judging human behaviour.
Another aspect on which the Jaina philosophers attached
