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Lord Mahavira
without ignoring even for a moment the real. This is the background which made Mahâvîra oppose Jamali.
Mahâvîra knew well that human nature in general lacks patience and perseverance. Every individual has a keen desire to have speedy and maximum result with the minimum of labour. It is not also unoften that a man is just near the point of enjoying the fruit of his labour when all of a sudden he comes across an obstacle or difficulty and being disappointed gives up the undertaking. He attributes the responsibility of his failure to extreme causes without having any idea of his own drawbacks like impatience and lack of sufficient effort, needed for the purpose. Many social and political activities remain only half-done owing to this significant fact about human nature.
Having in view the above datum, Mahâvîra proclaimed that an action whose process has been set on roll can be said to have been done from one standpoint. When our effort continues, it goes on achieving its end to the proportion in which it stands as accomplished. The result in view as a whole is attainable at the end of a long and continuous effort. But the amount of labour put in during the whole process cannot be regarded in vain as each and every part of that labour had its own role to play and the final result is nothing but the sum total of all those individual parts. If this fundamental truth is ignored no attempt either in spiritual matters or in worldly dealings can be carried on efficiently and steadily. Mahâvîra's doctrine inspires a man to proceed on his way and not to regard the utter futility of his effort or activity however slight it may be in quantity. 29 It promises him fruition of his undertaking at every step. It discourages him from running away from the responsibility thinking that the obstructions or along period of time would defeat his purpose and not allow him to taste the sweet fruit of his arduous labour. He feels satisfaction at every moment during the performance of a particular action that he has been crowned with success so far.
That is why the Lord preached the doctrine of SHOT TES'. It means that an action which is still going on or is not completed yet or whose final result seems to be far off, can be said to have been done or completed or to have attained its objective. It does not recognize any difference between the act and its result. The
