INCULCATION OF SELF-RELIANCE
The contribution of
Tirathnkara Mahavira and Jaina Acharyas of a revolutionary nature
consisted in completely changing the attitude of the people towards God
and thereby inculcating the spirit of self-reliance among the minds of the
people. The common belief, held by the people according to the prevalent
ideology, was that this world has been created by God and the work of
controlling the events in this world in also carried out by God. This
popular belief engendered a feeling of divine dispensation in the kinds of
the people because it was firmly held by the people that God can do and
undo anything in this world in accordance with his wishes. Naturally this
feeling created a sense of complete dependence on God by the people in the
conduct of their daily activities and in securing happiness in this world
as well as in the next world. Obviously this sense of dependence on God
urged people to find out ways and means so as to obtain in abundant
measure the favors of God in mundane and spiritual matters and also to
avoid the displeasure or wrath of God which, it was thought, would not
only bring several difficulties in the normal course of life but also
would lead to complete disaster. As a result of this attitude, people
began to place entirely blind faith on the omnipotent God and to secure
his favors by practicing certain rites and rituals laid down for the
purposes. These prescribed rituals are so elaborate that they did require
the services of priests who were supposed to have the special knowledge
about these rites and who were also specifically authorized to perform
these rituals in a proper manner. In this way the entire code of conduct
of the people was fully dominated by the practice of various rituals
throughout the course of life and by the priests whose help and assistance
were considered most essential to work as intermediary between people and
God for securing desired favors from God.
Tirthankara Mahavira and
Jaina Acharyas launched an intensive attack on this attitude of complete
submission to God by the people for attaining their final objective in
life. viz. liberation. In this regard Tirthankara Mahavira firmly asserted
that this world is eternal and has not been created by any power like God
and that the happenings in this world are not controlled by God. He
clearly proclaimed that nothing here or elsewhere depends on the favors of
God but everything depends on the actions of the people. He confidently
stated that all persons, irrespective of their ultimate objective in life,
by relying on themselves and through the observance of an ethical code of
conduct and not by merely performing some rituals with the help of others.
For this purpose he laid down a path to liberation which consisted of
right faith, right knowledge and right conduct and appealed to the people
to follow this path on their individual initiative and efforts and not
with the help of any intermediary.
Further, he impressed on
the people the theory of karma which is based on the principle of
self-reliance. This doctrine explains the reasons lying behind or causes
leading to effects. It maintains that every happening in this world is the
result of some antecedent causes. Since the individual soul is the doer of
actions, it must bear the consequences of these actions sooner or later.
The is no way out of it. The responsibility of consequences cannot be
shifted nor exemption from the consequences of these actions sooner or
later. There is no way out of it. The responsibility of consequent cannot
be shifted nor exemption from the consequences be given by anybody. The
soul has to enjoy the fruits of the karmas in this life or in subsequent
lives. There is no salvation until the soul stops the influx of karmas and
gets rid of existing karmas and this it will have to do by its own
deliberate efforts without expecting any help form an outside agency like
God. There is no use in asking the favor of God or his representative
because they do not have the power of determining the consequence of the
karmas and have no authority to forgive people form future consequences of
past actions.
This theory of karmas has
been an original and integral part of the Jaina ideology, and Tirthankara
Mahavira convinced the people of the necessity of adopting this doctrine
and of molding their entire life on the foundation of this theory.
Naturally Tirthankara Mahavira laid full stress on individual action and
completely denied the existence of divine dispensation. He emphasized that
man is the architect of his destiny and that there is no external power
which can come in the way of getting the fruits of one�s actions, whether
good or bad. He assured the people that the attainment of liberation, the
ultimate object in life, is within their reach and it depends entirely on
one�s own efforts in the march on the path liberation. In this way
Tirthankara Mahavira wanted every individual to become a true hero on the
battlefield of self-conquest. Thus Tirthankara Mahavira inculcated a
spirit of reliance among the people in place of the feelings of utter
dependence on God. This basic change in attitude brought an over-all
change in the course of life of the people who began of lay stress more on
the ethical aspects than on the ritualistic aspects of their conduct.
EMPHASIS
ON NON-VIOLENCE
The most distinctive
contribution of Tirthankara Mahavira and Jaina acharyas consists in their
great emphasis on the observance of ahimsa, i.e. non-injury to
living beings, by all persons to the maximum extent possible. Ahimsa
in its full significance was realized and preached by twenty-three
Tirthankaras preceeding Tirthankara Mahavira. In fact, the philosophy and
rules of conduct laid down in Jaina religion have been based on the solid
foundation of ahimsa which has throughout and consistently, been
followed to its logical conclusion. That is why Jainism has become
synonymous with ahimsa and Jaina religion is considered as the
religion of ahimsa. The significance of this basic principle of ahimsa was
very powerfully reiterated by Tirthankara Mahavira as the practices of
committing violence on different pretexts had become rampant at that time.
During the later Vedic
period utmost importance was attached to the performance of sacrifices
with a view to secure the favors of God and to avert His anger. The
sacrifices were very elaborate, complicated and hedged with various
restrictions. The sacrifices became a regular feature of the religious
life of the people. The peculiar characteristic of these sacrifices was
that they were usually accompanied by the slaughter of animals. As the
sacrifices were mainly animal sacrifices they involved the practice of
himsa to a considerable extent. Along with this practice, the
flesh-eating or non-vegetarian diet was extremely popular among the
different sections of the people. The people in those days were fond of
meat-eating and practically all the important ceremonies were attended
with the slaughter of animals. Offerings of flesh were frequently made to
the Gods by worshippers.
Tirthankara Mahavira and
Jaina Acharyas launched a vigorous attack against meat-eating and the
performance sacrificial rites by propagating the principle of ahimsa,
i.e. non-injury to living beings. In fact in all his preachings
Tirthankara Mahavira invariably laid great stress on the observance of
ahimsa because the principle of ahimsa is the logical outcome
of the basic Jaina metaphysical theory that all the souls are potentially
equal. He therefore asserted that as no one likes pain, one should not do
unto others what one does not want others to do unto oneself. Since all
living beings possessed a soul, the principle of non-injury was obviously
extended to cover all living beings. He explained the doctrine of
ahimsa systematically and to the minutest detail. He considered injury
or violence of three kinds: (i) physical violence, which covered killing,
wounding and causing any physical pain, (ii) violence in words consisted
in using harsh words, and (iii) mental violence, which implied bearing
ill-feeling towards others. Further, he made it clear that violence or
injury should be avoided in three ways, that is, it should not be
committed, commissioned or consented to. Moreover, among the five main
vratas, i.e. vows, the first place was given to the observance of ahimsa.
In addition, ahimsa was regarded as the principal vow, and the other four
vows were considered to be merely details of the principal vow.
All these preachings of
Jaina religion regarding the strict observance of the principle of
ahimsa to the maximum extent possible by every individual in society
produced far-reaching effects in social fields. The practice performing
sacrificial rites and especially the slaughter of animals at the time of
sacrifices considerably fell into disuse. Similarly killing of animals for
hunting, sports and decoration purposes was greatly reduced. Further, the
slaughter of animals and birds with a view to use their flesh as a form of
diet slowly became unpopular. In this way injury to living beings was
greatly reduced and the practice of vegetarian diet was adopted by large
sections of population in different regions of the country. In this
connection Dr. N.K. Dutt (in his book Origin and Growth of Caste in India)
observes that "Animal sacrifice had been so long standing among the Aryans
and such was the respect for the authority of the Vedas, which made it
obligatory to sacrifice with flesh offerings, that the abolition of
sacrifices, even of cows, became a very slow process effecting only a very
small minority, the intellectual section of he people; and might not have
succeeded at all, if Jainism and Buddhism had not overwhelmed the country
and the mass of the people with the teachings of ahimsa and
inefficacy of sacrificial rites."
Thus Tirthankara Mahavira
emphasized the basic fact that every living being has a sanctity and a
dignity of its own and therefore one must respect it as one expects one�s
own dignity to be respected by others. He also firmly emphasized that life
is sacred irrespective of species, caste, color, creed or nationality. On
this basis he advocated the principle of �Live and let live�. In this way
Tirthankara Mahavira convinced the people that the practice of ahimsa
is both an individual and a collective virtue and showed that ahimsa
has a positive force and a universal appeal.
INSISTENCE ON TOLERANCE
Advocacy of the principle
of religious tolerance has been the characteristic contribution of
Tirthankara Mahavira and the Jaina Acharyas. When Tirthankara
Mahavira promulgated Jaina religion, he never deprecated other religions
and never tried to prove that other religions are false. In fact he
propounded the doctrine of Anekantavada, i.e., many-sidedness, and
showed that a thing can be considered from many points of view. That is
why he always advised the people to find out the truth in anything after
taking into account several sides or aspects of that thing. This obviously
broadens the outlook of the persons as they are made to look at a thing
from different angles. At the same time the principle of Anekantavada
does not engender the feelings of enmity or hatred towards the other
religionists because it believes that other religions also would be having
some truth from their points of view. Hence by enunciating the principle
of Anekantavada, Tirthankara Mahavira and the Jaina acharyas
advocated the principle of tolerance and asserted that it could be applied
to intellectual, social, religious and other fields of activities. As a
result we find that Anekantavada has definitely a bearrng on man's
psychological and spiritual life and that it is not confined to solve a
mere ontological problem. It has supplied the philosopher with catholicity
of thought, convincing him that truth is not anybody's monopoly with
tariff walls of denominational religion. It also furnished the religious
aspirant with the virtue of intellectual toleration which is a part of
ahimsa.
