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( १४५ )
to open the proceedings of the Conference in a short but felicitous speech. His Highness felt a great pleasure to attend the Conference; he had come there more to hear the speech of the President-elect, than to make one himself. The Conference had his full sympathy. His Highness felt confident that an attempt would be made to give a practical effect to the resolutions passed by the conference. His Highness remarked that the Jain Religion was a very ancient religion. It was also a simple religion; in fact Jainism was more ancient than Buddhism. Mahavirswami flourished two centuries before Buddhism came into existence-the Jain religion had two outstanding features. The first was that prior to the establishment of the Jain religion, the slaughter of animals was generally in vogue in India by way of sacrifice to the Gods-the Jain faith rightly set itself against the system. The second feature in the opinion of His Highness was that according to the Jain faith the caste system was unjustifiable. That was an astounding statement for the Jains to hear and His Highness himself was not quite sanguine about it. He, however, hoped that the Jains would carry researches about the matter in their ancient religious books and if as a result it should turn out to be a true one they would accept it in practical life. The cardinal princi. ple of the Jain faith that the non-slaughter of animals was the greatest duty of man ( अहिंसा परमोधर्मः ) was a very fascinating one and an attempt should be made to spread it by booklets & preaching. The Jains were a mercantile community and gene. rally in well to-do circumstances. His Highness advised them to use their wealth for the public good and social reform. After His Highness had concluded his speech, the President rose amidst cheers to deliver his address. The address was a very long one and embraced a variety of topics such as religious and secular education-female education-the spread of Jain litera. ture-the publication of ancient Jain works, the preservation of ancient Jain temples, antiquarian researches, the abolition of injurious social customs and the necessity of a Jaina directory, The lecture was full of interest to the Jaina community
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