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RELIGION & CULTURE OF THE JAINS
too, one has to ask himself at every step whether the injury involved is necessary, and if so, what is the minimum needed in a particular instance, so that he can take care to avoid more than the minimum possible injury to life, required for the purpose. The rule of ‘manimum injury' should ever be the guiding motto. In almost every civilized religion sanctity of human life has been recognised, but few go beyond that. Jainism, however, recognizes the sanctity of all life, including beasts, birds, fish, fowl, and the smaller creatures down to the lowliest of the lowly. With it, life is sacred in whatever from it is found to exist. Non-injury to life is therefore the highest ethical principle, and a true gentleman or gentlewoman is one who has no tendency to do violence to anybody, nay, to any living being. “Thou shall not kill or hurt any other creature, in thought, word, or deed” is the watchword.
Some say, 'war is necessary to end war', or that, 'hiṁsā is necessary to establish ahiṁsā'. But, as C.F. Andrews observed, "One war follows another and there seems to be no escape. Surely there must be something wrong in Western civilization itself, which causes self-destructive tendencies to recur, without any apparent means of prevention.” If the aim of religion is to bring peace on earth and goodwill amongst mankind, it must always emphasise the ultimate good, and declare evil as evil, even if it may appear to be unavoidable at a particular time, or in a particular set of circumstances. Good cannot come out of evil. The ahiṁsā way of life is the sure panacea for all moral, social, economic and political ills, ahimsā is the highest religion, and where there is ahimsā there is victory. Resume
The path, as outlined briefly in the present chapter, is the Path of the Jina, the Conqueror. Its authenticity, efficacy and practicability are vouchsafed by the very fact that it was practised
