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THC ORIENT
He derived all other vous and virtues from the principle ci non-injury to all living cicatures in all forms of liie Sainja (Truth), Asteya (Non-stealing) Pronmocharya (Complcte ccic. bacy) and Aparagraph (Non-possession) all logically low from and are a duect result of Ahmad Tapa and Samyam. al'. terities and every kind of restiaint in every activity ni mnd. speech and body are inevitable consequences of the principle ni non-injury The whole of Mahaviras rcligion or cthics can b. summed up in these three concrpts Ahimsa Sanjian and TOTT The distinguishing characteristic of this ethical religion is fias. Mahavira carried it to the extrerne limit. As a result irra emphasis was laid on renunciation of all worldi- 70*varities rd involvement in self-analysis or introspection Mahavira. unlile Buddha, admitted no compromise. Buddha adnoted the iniddle path, but Mahavira folloved the path of extreme asnoticisin
The practice of such an ethical code leads to spiritual individualism and indifference to social activities and responsibilities It is true that there is a code of conduct or householders Grhasta-dharma But Mahavira's whole emphasis is on Muni-dharma, Grihasta-dharma is only a step to M2711dharma This has led to a somewhat lop-sided concept of noninjury, and to a great deal of misconception and misapplication of that principle It has led to contradictions in life Such an ideal leads to more negative approach towards life than to a positive one * Active compassion does not find a place in such an ideal No doubt, practice of the principle of non-injury does not permit any harm to any one, but it does not lead to active compassionate conduct either Efforts have been made to a this imbalance but not with much success The result has been dichotomy in life between what is conceived to be religious duty and what calls for social responsibility
Dr Albert Schweitzer evolved the basic ethical principle of reverence for life, but he wanted to combine it with what he called life-affirmation which means full social activity He was then confronted with the problem what he called the horrible dilemma of life where life exists at the cost of life He could find no way of escape Mahayıra avoided this dilemma by renouncing all worldly activity, which, to Dr Schweitzei, was negation of life Schweitzer found greater comfort in Christs principle of love or Buddha's principle of active compassion which also favoured reverence for life Dr. Schweitzer made no distinction between one form of life and another Like Mahavira, he accepted the principle of unity of life and maintained that there was no justification to regard one form of life as higher than another Therefore, man had no right to sacrifice life in any form for his happiness However, Schweitzer was
*
For detailed discussion or this point see the article 'Jaina Philosophy and Religion' pp 79-81
