________________
36
Some Aspects of Indion Culture
regard may be paid to the welfare and good of every single man, woman or child. In sum, the principle of Abimsā really implies that life should be elevated completely from the plane of force to that of reason and revarance, adjustment and accommodation, service and sacrifice. This can be achieved exclusively through the sincere and solid application of the principle of Abiṁsā, the cornerstone of Jainism, to all the fields of human activities. It should be noted that the principle of Truthfulness is inseparably linked up with the principle of non-injury, non-violence. Truth is the highest divinity and is of the ten types as stated in the Pannavana sutta. Violence begets fraud which is but another form of untruth. We say in our daily talk that truth only conquers. It is true when it means that truth prevails in the long run. But it is a wrong interpretation if it is meant to signify that truthfulness in thought, word and deed is a road to success. The path of truth is strewen with thorns, is beset with difficulties. It demands courage and conviction, stoicism and sacrifice. It is one thing to speak the truth in private but it is quite an another thing to say and stick to it in public. However ideals are ideals and they cannot be tempered with. Lofty aims are the wings of the soul aiding it to soar higher and higher. The wings, therefore, should never be clipped even partially. To those who argue that in a society which is permeated in and out with vice and wickedness, vile and violence, it is well nigh impossible to stick to truth, and therefore the society should be so organized as to facilitate the truth to prevail, it can be with equal force advanced that a society is made up of individuals and if these improve, the society is automatically improved. The principle of non-stealing is but another name of honesty. In Uttarajjhayana, the Lord had said “ To abstain from taking what is not given, even so much as a tooth-pick etc. and to accept only such alms as are free from all faults; this is a difficult vow (to observe)". If the conditions of right living are to be sustained, one has to see that one does not so enjoy the rights as to deprive the others of them. What is a right in regard to oneself is a duty in regard to others. Rights and duties are interdependent. They go hand in hand. If one adheres to this principle strictly and with sincerity, there will be no problem of plunder, or loot, or robbing. The fourth vow is named continence, another form of it being self-control which, like the pruning of a shrub, assists the beauty and flowering of the soul. One must grow in self-control. One must not suppress the instincts but sublimate them and this is what exactly results from the observance of celibacy or continence. Sublimation is the organic device of attaining self-control without disintegrating personality It renders possible the all-round organisation of self which is the mainstay of morality. Celibacy directs the flow of energies into specific channels and helps the person in continually recreating the moral order in which he has his being and in contributing immensely to the moral life of the society of which he is a part. Aparigraha is the last of the five vows. It means absence of acquisitiveness, or a state of Possessionlessness or stoicism. It enjoins on a person to exercise restraint on accumulation. An ideally religious man is totally devoid of a lust for hoarding. His wants are bare and his needs are few. This will save him from getting lost in the pursuit of material gain.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
