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JAIN SOCIETY AND NATIONAL CULTURE
with Ahimsa and Jaina religion is considered as the religion of Ahimsa.
The Jain Acharyas launched a vigorous attack against meat-eating and the performance of animal sacrifices and advocated the principle of Ahimsa, i.e., Non-injury to living beings. They laid great stress on the actual observance of Ahimsa because the principle of Ahimsa is the logical outcome of the basic Jaina metaphysical theory that all souls are potentially equal. They, therefore, asserted that as no one likes pain, one should not do unto others what one does not want others to do unto one. Since all living beings possessed soul, the principle of non-injury was obviously extended to cover all living beings. They explained the doctrine of Ahimsa systematically and to the minutest detail.
All these preachings of Jain Acharyas regarding the strict observance of the principle of Ahimsa to the maximum extent possible by every individual in society produced far reaching effects in social field. The practice of performing sacrificial rites and especially the slaughter of animals at the time of sacrifices considerably fell into disuse. Similarly, killing of animals for hunting, sports and decoration purposes was greatly reduced. Further, the slaughter of animals and birds with a view to use their flesh as a form of diet slowly became unpopular. In this way injury to living beings was greatly reduced and the practice of vegetarian diet was adopted by large section of population in different regions of the country.
Further, the Jain Acharyas emphasised the basic fact that every living being has a sanctity and a dignity of its own and therefore one must respect it as one expects one's own dignity to be respected by others. They also firmly emphasised that life is sacred irrespective of species, caste, colour, creed or nationality. On this basis
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