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JAIN SOCIETY AND NATIONAL CULTURE
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dangerous, to presume that one's own creed alone represents the truth. Toleration is, therefore, the characteristic of Jain ideology. Even the Jain monarchs and generals have a clean and commendable record of their credit in this regard. The political history of India knows no cases of persecution by Jain Kings, even when Jain monks and laymen have suffered at the hands of other religionists of fanatical temper. Dr. B.A. Saletore has rightly observed in this regard that “The principle of Ahimsa was partly responsible for the greatest contribution of the Jains to Hindu culture—that relating to toleration. Whatever may be said concerning the rigidity with which they maintained their religious tenets and the tenacity and skill with which they met and defeated their opponent in religious disputations, yet it cannot be denied that the Jainas fostered the principle of toleration more sincerely and at the same time more successfully than any other community in India.”
5.
Encouragement to Social Welfare
Along with the maximum emphasis on the actual observation of Ahimsa, the Jain Acharyas greatly extended the implications of Ahimsa. They invariably stressed both the negative and the positive aspects of Ahimsa. They strongly advocated that the concept of Ahimsa should not be confined only to the negative side of it, that is, the avoidance of injury to the living beings of different categories, but should be consistently applied in the positive way, that is, in the direction of increasing the welfare of all living beings. They always appealed to the people to bear good intentions about the prosperity of others, to show active interest in the welfare of the needy persons, and to take practical steps to ameliorate the miserable conditions of afflicted living
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