Lord Mahavira and His Teachings

Author(s): Vallabhsuri Smarak Nidhi
Publisher: Vallabhsuri Smarak Nidhi

Page 65

Lord Mahavira and His Teachings
(The Jaina conception of soul and knowledge being identical is analogous to Einstein's theory of matter and energy being equivalent, which is again the teaching of Jaina metaphysics. Where there is knowledge there is soul; and where there is soul there is knowledge. The unique nature of soul and all its wonderful qualities have been taught to the world by the great teachers. Lord Mahavira emphasized the supreme value of soul as a thing which must be protected and developed at any cost. Man should not only care for the welfare and advancement of his soul but also help the souls of all sentient beings by giving them protection and by helping them to march on the path of salvation. He who loses his soul loses everything. Jesus Christ who came five centuries later than Mahavira also drew the attention of mankind to the value and importance of atman or soul. "What shall it profit a man”, he asks, "if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul ?" The pious Christians who live in America, Russia and other countries where the deadly weapons are being manufactured may as well ask their own countrymen, "What shall we gain if we get supremacy of the earth and lose our own souls ?” Unfortunately there will be no getting the supremacy of the earth also, since the atom bombs will destroy everything. .
. In order to establish peace in the world the importance of soul and the necessity for the practice of Ahimsa should be taught throughout the world in every village and town. Man must be made to become conscious of the supreme value of his soul and the utter uselessness of the result of inventing and using of the atom bombs.