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MA, TUKOL
nonoplised by them that the others began to feel that aristocracy in religion created by priests was an artificial and suffocating barrier. The fact that! all the Tirthankaras pere KShatriyas by birth and that the religion that they preached throw the portals of religious knowledge and the attainment of spiritual perfection through it open to every soul irrespective of its antece dents of birth was really an uaexpected revolution in those times, The, wave of this religion fostered such eolightenment and change 10 outlook that all people must have felt a rehef from the tyrrany of the priesthood. In fact the movement must have democratised the whole social system and showed to the people that to know it was to study it well and that to live it was not merely to love it as an object of reperence but to regard it as an essential element of life. Historical instances may be quoted from the South to point out that many people from the lower classes felt that Jainism was regarded by them as a Saviour from the thraldrom of priesthood and ritualism, and practised the principles with pride and reverence. I may only draw the attention of inquisitive students to Prof. S: R. Sharma's book on " Jainism and Karnatak Culture" for examples on this point. For a student of Indian Social History, it 18 absolutely necessary to note that Jainism brought with it and sowed the seeds of religrus toleration to such an extent that for Dearly a thousand years after the death of Lord Mahāvīra the principle of Ahungā which was another form of universal respect for the life of every living object held swayin all activities of Kings and rulers in India. We know that all kings that came after the Christian era patronised learning, art, and literature regardless of class and creed.
11 It is udfortunate that this principle of Ahinsā which brought into the Indian' life a new spirit of humanism and enhanced respect for all lives was subjected by different writers to unmerited criticism, of not hatred. Till Gandhiji demonstrated that the use of ahunsā as a weapon agaittat an opponent was possible only amongst those who were great in spirit and moral strength, the Jains were often charged with cowardice and as having brought about the downfall of many empires. Such critics forget that while laying down that the practice of non-killing physically and mentally was an idealian of the highest degree attainable by supremely spiritualised souls, Jainism did not forget to prescribe a code of conduct for an ordinary householder whose lapses in that field could be excused owing to the disabilities induced by his profession, calling, age or other circumstances. When Mrs. Stevenson characterised the doctrine as "grotesque exaggeration" she was oblivious to the principles that classified a house-holder into different classes or stages according to the standard of his mental make-up. The triumph of Gandhiji was the triumph of Ahinsā, day of that religion which preached it as a stepping stone for divine perfection. As Gandhiji often emphasised we should remember that it is this "ahınsā" which has kept the
