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Ethics of Responsibility
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'secret knowledge', as already seen in the famous dialogue between Śvetaketu and his father Rși Aruni in Chandogya Upanisad. However, as will be presently seen, even amongst Śramana thinkers who did not believe in God as the creator and sustainer of the universe, and who did not subscribe to the finality of Vedas, different and divergent theories explaining the universal order persisted, even at the time of Mahavīra. Hence, some more rational and more convincing explanation about the universal scheme was required. Mahavīra was not the founder of what is now known as 'Jainism'. He was a follower of a great Śramanic tradition which is said to have been handed over to him by his twenty-three predecessors called 'Tirthankaras' ( makers of Tirtha - place of pilgrimage ). Greatness of Mahavira, however, lies in bringing about a beautiful synthesis and giving a rational and logical orientation to the prevailing Śramanic thoughts.
It was Rousseau who said that the man is born free, but is everywhere bound in chains. Mahavira, however, says that the man is born in chains but he can be free, if he so wishes. Freedom is his birthright. When Mahavira says this, he talks of real freedom, not a mere political one. But achievement of freedom is a conscious attempt, and no attempt is conscious unless one has the liberty to choose between good and bad, liberty to exert, liberty to destroy the obstacles, found in the path to reach the goal.
Mahavira's Synthesis
In Mahavira's time there were philosophers who denied man's liberty to shape his destiny and believed in absolute determinism under different theories. It was Mahavira's task to achieve a proper synthesis of all these theories, and, at the same time, to emphasise the soul's capacity to change its future. Mahavira's emphasis on soul's capacity to change its future was a natural consequence of his belief that pure consciousness is the integral attribute of the soul, because a thing which is conscious can never remain dormant Dynamism
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