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Jainism-A Beacon Light for Our World
Dr. L.M. Singhvi
India is an ancient land. Different philosophies and religions of the world have flourished here through centuries of human history. In this cradle of culture there grew a great and glorious tradition of compassion, friendship, sympathy, fearlessness and non-violence. That tradition goes back to thousands of years. That tradition did not commence with Lord Mahavira. Indeed, it culminated in an apotheosis in the saga of Lord Mahavira's life. According to Jain history, the tradition arose with the first of the Tirthankara, Lord Rishabhadeva, who was the founding father of many-splendid arts and sciences of human civilisation. He was also the father of the illustrious Bharata. The twentyfourth Tirthankara unfolded to the world, by precept and example, a profoundly humane, rational, scientific, spiritual and ethical outlook on life.
The glory of the Jain tradition is that its adherents, kings as well as commoners and monks as well as householders, strove to preserve the essence of its tenets. It is a rich legacy which lives on not as a legend in the pages of history but as a part of a cherished, vibrant and living tradition.
The Jain tradition is not in any real sense antithetical or antagonistic to the Vedic tradition. Jainism and Buddhism sprang from the soil of Indian thought. Indeed, Lord Mahavira placed a constructive and thoughtful emphasis on the essence and the real meaning of life. The Jain tradition, of takes a fearless and rational approach to life. Lord Mahavira put it in two words when he said : Truth is the God (Sachham Bhagavam).
In the quest for the truth, Jains were engaged in what was perhaps the most unparallelled and unsurpassed commitment to intellectual and ethical integrity. They endeavoured to reach their conclusions on the basis of scientific inquiry into the nature of physical phenomena, the human nature, the individual and the collective mind, the nature and purposes of life. They philosophised without any blinkers. Out of the depth of that soulful inquiry came the lotus of Anekanta and the ambrosia of Ahimsa.
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