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100 : Śramaņa, Vol 62, No. 4, Oct.-Dec. 2011 explain thus, all breathing, existing, living and sentient creatures should not be slain, nor treated with violence, nor abused, nor tormented. Ach.Amrtacandrasūri38 defines ahimsa as the absence of attachment etc. passions. The observance of non-violence of the form of non-origin of attachment and hatred is pure, eternal and unchangeable law or tenet of the religion. In Jaina canon Mūlasūtra Daśavaikālika, religion has been described. Ach. Pūjyapāda“), Akalanka“ also gives non-violence as the characteristic of religion. Bhāvasangraha42 also echoes the similar spirit. The observation of Prof. Sagarmal Jain“, is quite relevant in this regard, He says, in Jainism one hardly comes across instances of religious conflicts involving violence and bloodshed. At the most one meets with instance of disputations and strongly worded debates concerning ideological disagreements. The Jaina men of learning while refuting the different ideologies and religious standpoints, fully paid regard to them and accepted that the opponent's convictions may be valid from a certain stand point. Non-Absolutism: the philosophical basis of Tolerance: Non-Absolutism (Anekāntvāda) forms the philosophical foundation of Religious tolerance in Jaina religion. Jaina Acharyas are of opinion that reality is a complex one. It has many facets, various attributes and modes. Though only omniscient can comprehend it completely yet even for an omniscient it is impossible to know and explain the reality without a stand-point or view- point. On the basis of partial and relative knowledge of reality one has no right to discard the views of his opponents as totally false. To Jaina thinkers the truth value of opponents must be respected and accepted. Ach. Siddhasena Divākara remarked that all schools of thought were valid when they are understood from their own standpoint and so far as they do not discard the truth value of others. Jaina tradition has explicitly mentioned that tendency of praising their own religion and deploring that of others is not going to do any good to anyone. One of the earliest Jaina Anga texts Sūtrakstāngas
