Book Title: Outlines of Jainism
Author(s): J L Jaini, F W Thomas
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

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Page 120
________________ 72 OUTLINES OF JAINISM trade and commerce. But even a brewer or a butcher may be a Jaina : then he will be in the vowless stage of soul's evolution (aviratu-gunasthāna). Social Behaviour A true Jaina will do nothing to hurt the feelings of another person, man, woman, or child; nor will he violate the principles of Jainism. Jaina ethics are meant for men of all positions—for kings, warriors, traders, artisans, agriculturists, and indeed for men and women in every walk of life. The highest will find in the Jaina rules of conduct satisfactory guidance for their affairs; and the meanest can follow them. “Do your duty. Do it as humanely as you can." This, in brief, is the primary precept of Jainisin. Non-killing cannot interfere with one's duties. The king, or the judge, has to hang a murderer. The murderer's act is the negation of a right of the murdered. The king's, or the judge's, order is the negation of this negation, and is enjoined by Jainism as a duty. Similarly the soldier's killing on the battlefield. It is only prejudiced and garbled accounts of Jainism that have led to its being misunderstood. Civil and Criminal Wrongs The Indian Penal Code, originally drafted by Lord Macaulay, takes account of almost all offences known to and suppressed by our modern civilization. Mr. A. B. Latthe, M.A., of Sholapur, has shown by a table how the five minor rules of conduct (the five ammu-trutus of Jainism) cover the same grond as the twenty-three chapters and 511 sections of the Code.

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