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because Jainism believes that not only all human beings and all the animals, but also all insects, all vegetation, even earth, stones, water, fire and air are living organisms, are all endowed with their respective souls, and, therefore, represent embodied life in various forms. This animistic belief is the chief source of respects for life, for all forms of living beings, however lowly, small or insignificant, proving at the same time that ‘ahiṁsā (non-injury to life), which is the very keynote of Jainism, is not only the greatest conception, but also one of the most ancient in the world.
As the late Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first President of free India, observed, "Jainism has contributed to the world the sublime doctrine of Ahimsā. No other religion has emphasised the importance of Ahiṁsā and carried its practice to the extent that Jainism has done." Professor A.L. Basham also says, "Of all the religious groups of India Jainism has always been the most fervent supporter of non-violence (ahiṁsā), and undoubtedly the influence of Jainism in the spread of that doctrine throughtout India has been considerable." To quote yet another scholar
Mrs. Elizabeth Sharpe, "The Jaina philosophy is an almost perfect one. It is a live philosophy, ennobling and reassuring. It puts a supreme and beautiful value on life, believing that when its fragments are disintegrated to a point almost of nothingness, there is danger to that small evolution losing itself. This philosophy gives a sanctity to life and its preservation. This sanctity of life, it insists, is the highest religion the only evolution. This philosophy is optimistic; for it believes, too, that in the end, right, that is life, soul, spirit, must triumph over matter; for once consciousness is restored to life in the form of 'right knowledge', matter has no longer any power over the soul."
It is no doubt true that no other philosophy ever tries to carry
