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Karuņā and the Significance of its Social .... : 89
and colleges. With the efforts of Karuna International, 1,02,000 students of 96 schools have decided to use only non-leather shoes. They
have also undertaken not to use any animal products. ► 22,000 students have switched over to a vegetarian diet. ▸ Karuna International publishes a monthly Newsletter which
gives information about all Karuna club programmes. In the competition on "Stories of compassion" book, 40,000 students give examination and they are awarded prizes worth
Rs.2, 50,000/- each year. Our Hope for Tomorrow
To shoulder this ideology forward among the community at large, 35 Karuna Kendras have been established in towns and cities to involve more and more citizens; these Kendras will strengthen and vitalize the movement further. Our insensitivity and carelessness towards animal lives and our veering towards nonvegetarian food habits is largely responsible for environmental degradation and global violence that stalks the world today. This has been recognized not only in India, but across the globe. The need for compassion is the most urgent requirement of the world today for its peace and continued survival.
Thus, we find that the noble thought of 'Jiva-dayā" or compassion preached by Lord Mahāvīra 2500 years ago has been implemented effectively by Karuna International. Within the past 14 years significant work has been done by these clubs in communicating the message of compassion to 10,00,000 children and 35,000 teachers through 1850 schools and colleges. Reference:
I. Ācārānga - Sūtra 1.2.3. 63 2. Uttarādhyayana- Sūtra 21.13 3. Daśavaikālika-cūrņi 5.11 4. Karuna club: A universal movement, page 7 published by
Karuna International, Chennai-I. 5. Syllabus on Humane Education, Published by Karuna Interna
tional, Chennai-I.
