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adopted by the sages or the diversity of the periods of time. Just as a physician prescribes medicine according to the nature of a patient, and his illness, so is the case with the diversity of religious teachings. Since diversity in the understanding of disciples is inevitable, variety in religious ideologies and practices is essential. The only way to remove religious as well as other conflicts is to develop a tolerant outlook and to establish harmony among different faiths, ideologies and cultures.
Thus, in Jainism, unity means a co-operative co-existence of the constituents in an organised whole. So far as the problem of national integration is concerned Jainas support it theoretically as well as practically. In the Sthananga, we have a mention of Kula-dharma, Grama-dharma and Rastra-dharma, i. e. of the duties pertaining to the family, the township and the nation. They also assert that if necessary the interests of the individual, the family and the township should be sacrificed for the common and greater good of the nation. Again, for them the concept of human solidarity has more importance than the concept of even nationality. They are of the view that for the solidarity and the greater good of mankind as a whole, we must get rid of even nationalism. If viewed from the point of view of the whole mankind even the outlook of nationalism is a hindrance to human solidarity.
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