Mahavira and his Philosophy of Life

Author(s): Kamalchand Sogani
Publisher: Jain Vidya Samsthan

Page 69

certain actions by keeping in view the existence of human and sub-human beings. On the one hand, Mahāvira advises us to refrain from killing, governing, enslaving, tormenting and provoking human and sub-human beings, while, on the other hand, he inspires us to promote mental equanimity, social and economic justice.
It is of capital importance to note that Ahimsa can be both an extrinsic and intrinsic value, i.e. both value as a means and value as an end. This means that both the means and the ends are to be tested by the criterion of Ahimsa. Thus the principle that “the end justifies the means" need not be rejected as immoral, if the means and ends are judged through the criterion of Ahimsā. In fact, there is no inconsistency in saying that Ahiṁsā is both an end as well as a means.
It may be asked what is in us on account of which we consciously lead a life of values based on Ahimsa ? The answer is : it is Karuna which makes one move in the direction of adopting Ahimsa-values. It may be noted that the degree of Karunā in a person is directly proportionate to the development of sensibility in him. The greatness of a person lies in the expression of sensibility beyond ordinary limits. This should be borne in mind that the emotional life of a person plays a decisive role in the development of healthy personality and Karunā is at the core of healthy emotions. Attachment and aversion bind the human personality to mundane existence, but Karunā liberates the individual from Karmic enslavement. The Dhavalā, the celebrated commenary on the Satkhandagama, remarkably pronounces that Karuna is the nature of soul. To make it clear, just as infinite knowledge is the nature of soul, so also is Karunā. This
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Mahavira and his Philosophy of Life