The conflict between himsa and ahimsa
dates from the beginning of man's history, but it was, perhaps, never
before so poignant as at present. There is also no doubt that it was the
first awakening of the 'ahimsic' attitude in the soul of the uncivilized,
barbarous, primitive man which marked his transformation from a veritable
brute into a humane being. The moment he began to realize the truth and
justice of the precepts 'live and let live and 'do unto others as you
would have others do unto you' angered the dawn of human reason, culture
and civilization. The endeavor to translate these wholesome precepts into
practice gradually humanized the brute in man.
The brute could, however, not be
completely annihilated; it still lurked and lived. The attraction of gross
materialism; the desire to indulge in unrestrained sensual pleasures and
the greed to acquire and possess more and more power and pelf tended to
awaken the brute in man and goad it into fury. And, in the face of this
inhuman fury, humanity has often found itself paralyzed. It was,
therefore, left to the great teachers who, renouncing even the very idea
of mundane pleasures, devoted themselves heart and soul to the eradication
of inhuman tendencies from human society and helped it to regain itself.
Again and again, in different fumes and lands, such masters have been born
to help mankind.
Among these, the Jaina Tirthankaras of
ancient India were the foremost in showing to suffering humanity the
'ahimsa' way of life and peaceful coexistence, not only by precept but by
their own practice and conduct. Beginning with Lord Rishabhadeva,
twenty-four such Tirthankaras gave in their respective fumes this message
of peace and good-will to the world. The last in this series of great
teachers was Vardhamana Mahavira (599-527 B.C.). He was a senior
contemporary of the Buddha who always spoke with respect of the
Nigantha-Nataputta (Mahavira). Both these masters were the last great
exponents of the Shramana or Arhat current of ancient Indian culture,
which had 'Ahimsa' for its fundamental creed.
Bhagwan Mahavira, the greatest apostle
of ahimsa and one of the greatest benefactors of mankind, was born on the
14th day of the bright fortnight of the Indian month of 'Chaitra' 599
years before the birth of Jesus Christ, at Kundagram a suburb of Vaishali
(in Bihar). His father, Siddhartha, was the republican head of the
Jnatrika clan, and his mother, Trishala, was the daughter of the Lichchavi
chief Chetaka, the head of the Vajjian confederacy of republics, with his
chief city as Vaishali. Thus Vardhamana Mahavira was a scion of a highly
respectable 'kshatriya' family, born and nurtured in a free republican
atmosphere. From his very childhood, he revealed in various ways signs of
true greatness. His extremely compassionate heart combined with a highly
spiritual bent of mind made him live the life of a householder with but
reluctance and indifference. In the midst of luxury he lived the detached
life of a Yogi. At last, at the age of thirty he gave up all worldly
possessions and left home to lead the life of a wanderer in search of
truth. For twelve years he practiced severe austerities in order to purge
his soul of all impurities and to make himself a perfect man. At the end
of that period, thanks to this long process of self-purification, he
became an Arhat or Jina. And, for the remaining thirty years of his life,
like the foregoing twenty-three Tirthankaras, last of them being
Parshvanath (877-777 B.C.), he journeyed on foot the length and breadth of
the country and with untiring energy incessantly showed to the suffering
humanity the Path of liberation both by example and precept. At the age of
72 in the last watch of the night of the 14th day of the dark fortnight of
the Indian month of Kartika, in 527 B.C. he attained Nirvana at Pava.
Like the foregoing twenty-three
Tirthankaras, Mahavira was a master propagator of the Jaina creed and is
credited with the reorganization of the Jaina order. At the same time he
was one of those great teachers of marking through whom the problem of the
perfection of man came to be recognized as the highest achievement for
progressive humanity. All the rules of religious life, which he enjoined,
were intended to be practical aids in the attainment of the perfection of
the self. He did not preach to others what he had not practiced himself.
The path of his was patients, forbearance, self-denial, forgiveness,
humanitarianism, compassion and consideration, in short, of sacrifice,
love and kindness.
Mahavira, as his name indicates, was an
embodiment of physical, moral and spiritual courage of the highest order,
and the supreme lesson of ahimsa rings out from every chapter and verse of
his life. He believed in non-violence not merely in bodily action but also
in word and thought. He and after him, the Jaina saints who followed in
his footsteps never tired of reawakening humanity to its duty towards
itself as well as other living beings. Ahimsa, the first principle of
higher life, is to be the rule of all conduct. Life is sacred in whatever
form it may be found to exist. 'Jainist' culture stands for universal
well-being and for universal brotherhood. Its aim is spiritual uplift and
ultimate perfection of the soul; hence it enjoins on its followers the
greatest self-control. It deprecates the action of those who for their
selfish end, pleasure, wanton willfulness, or even by careless or rash
conduct, hurt other's feelings or deprive them of their life-forces. To
treat others as one's own self is Mahavira's principal teaching. Once this
truth is realized all other questions are easily solved. The end can not
always justify the means. Good cannot come out of evil. Violence cannot
pave the way for peace and happiness.
According to Mahavira faith, every
living being is endowed with a soul. All souls are alike and possess
inherent goodness in them. Every one of them can attain the highest
spiritual perfection, although it is dependent on the conditions of its
bodily existence and on the environments it finds itself placed in; still
in however limited a degree or however slowly, it can always aspire to and
achieve the supreme spiritual evolution. If men come to realize this noble
community of interest among all riving beings they are sure to lover one
another and also sub-human life.
Philosophy
