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RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY OF THE JAINAS
give them prosperity and health. In India they have this kind of a cross on their implements as a sign of good luck. Sacred Thread
There are other signs of the Jainas. The sacred thread. This is used by the Brahmins as well as the Jainas. The Brahmins always connect philosophy of the sacred thread with materialistic views. They say the three rounds represent activity, passivity and grossness, the three properties of primordial matter. We Jainas say the three rounds represent the three sets of prophets that have flourished in all ages. There have been innumerable prophets but we take three sets immediately connected with our time - the past, the present, and the future. In the immediate past we had 24, in the present 24, and in the near future there will be 24. Therefore, the three rounds of the sacred thread represent three sets of prophets who have left their sublime teachings as our heritage. We carry it on our shoulder. It means we carry these teachings on our shoulders and practise them every day. It is a symbol of your willingness to practise and obey the teachings given to us by our prophets. Symbol of Seven Blind Men and the Elephant
The other symbol is that of seven blind me and the elephant. The seven blind men wanted to know what kind of an animal an elephant was. They went together to the place where the elephant was kept. One of them placed his hands on the ears, another on the legs, another on the tail of the elephant, and so on. When they were asked by the people what kind of an animal it was, one of the blind men said : “0, to be sure, the elephant is like a big winnowing fan." Another blind man said : “No, my dear sir, you are wrong. The elephant is like a big round post." The third : “You are all mistaken; it is like a tapering stick.” The rest gave their different opinions. The proprietor of the elephant said : “My friends, you are all mistaken. You have not examined the elephant from all sides. Had you done so, you would not have taken onesided views." In that symbol the Jainas show that no one should preach that a certain religion is the whole truth. There is a Jaina saying
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