________________
38
Some Aspects of Indian Culture
Mahāvira spoke in the tongue of the people is another example proving that he championed the cause of the masses against the totalitarian trends of the society. He spared nothing to take out the wind out of the sails of monopolistic tendencies of the elite.
Jainism as professed and practised by Mahāvira recognized that Karma by itself and without the intervention of any outside agency, divine or mundane, is adequate to explain the whole world of experience. It throws on the individual himself the whole burden of responsibility for what he thinks, speaks and does. He is thus the architect of his own fortune and needs not wait for God's mercy. This Jaina theory of Karma gives unqualified religious independence and freedom to an individual. It also saves the individual from being victimized by the autocratic and despotic sections of the society. It is only merit that counts and not the artificial status symbols based on arbitrary distinctions created by caste, community, colour and sex.
If atheism means an unbelief in a life beyond, then a Jaina is not at all an atheist, If again atheism means an unbelief in the authority of the Vedas, a Jaina is, of course, an atheist. Jainism has no quarter for a creative God, accommodating at the same time the concept of godhead.
Thus spake Mahāvıra. All, excepting the Abhavyas (uaredeemable), are potentiallly capable of attaining perfection without the God's grace or good will. Portals to emancipation are open to all. One is exclusively responsible for what one thinks, speaks, and does. Merit and not the birth is the determinant of status in society. Inherent ability and not the sex is the standard for admission into the order. Reverence for the life of all being howsoever small and insignificant one is, is the first law of ethics, Sacrifice of the animal is to be substituted by the sacrifice of one's own brute self. For the attainment of the end the means cannot be sacrificed. One should be tolerant of the other's point of view. 'Mortify the flesh to develop the spirit'- he declared. Mahāvīra delivered his message in the tongue of the people. He led a frontal attack agianst priestly oligarchy, aristocratic society and mystifying thinkers of the day. In short, he lived and died for working out and propagating a virtual spiritual democracy in the form of Jainism. Without sacrificing substance, Mahavira reoriented the principles of Jainism traditionally received from his predecessor, Pārsva, so as to be an effective weapon with which to counteract successfully the complicated technique employed since long by the spiritual monopolists to perpetuate thier hold on the people who were passing through a crisis of faith Mahavira's contribution, from this point of view, is sound and sizeable. In the world of thought, he ushered a republican era.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
