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Dr. Sagarmal Jain
Pragmatically considered, this logical attitude breeds dogmatism and if carried a step further, engenders fanaticism, the worst and the villest passion of human heart".11 For non-absolutism the views of the opponent are also true. Remarks Siddhasena Divakara (5th Cent. A.D.) "All schools of thought are valid when they are understood from their
in standpoint and insofar as they do not discard the truth-value of others. The knower of non-absolutism does not divide them into the category of true and false. They become false only when they reject the truth-value of others."12 It was this broader outlook of non-absolutism which made Jainas tolerant.
While expounding this tolerant outlook of the Jainas, Upādhyāya Yasovijaya (17th cent. A. D.) mentioned "A true non-absolutist does not disdain to any faith and he treats all the faiths equally like a father to his sons. For, a non-absolutist does not have any prejudiced and biased outlook in his mind. A true believer of syödvīda (non-absolutism) is that who pays equal regards to all the faiths. To remain impartial to the various faiths is the essence of being religious. A little knowledge which induces a person to be impartial is more worthwhile than the unilateral vast knowledge of scriptures. 18 Non-Personalism, A Keystone for Tolerance
It is the person-worship which makes the mind biased and intolerant. Jainism opposes the person-cult. For the Jainas, the object of veneration and worship is not a person but perfectness ie. the eradication of attachment and aversion. The Jainas worship quality or merit, not the person. In the sacred namaskāra-mantra of the Jainas, veneration is offered to the spiritual-posts such as arhat, siddha, ācārya and not the individuals like Mahävira, Rşabha or anybody else. In the fifth pada we find that the veneration is paid to all the saints of the world. The words' loye' and 'Savva' demonstrate the generosity of the Jainas!!. It is not the person but his spiritual attitude which is to be worshipped. Difference in name, according to the Jainas, is immaterial since every name at its best connotes the same spiritual perfection. Haribhadra in the rogadrsti-samuccaya remarks that the ultimate truth transcends all states of wordly existence, called nirvana and is essentially and necessarily "single" even if it be designated by different names lik Sadāśiva, brahman, Siddhātmā, Tathāgata etc. 15 Not only in the general sense
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