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12 : PART V
GUIDELINES TO MAHAVIR-DARSHAN
developed at any cost. Man should not only care for the welfare and advancement of his soul but also help the soul of all sentient beings by giving them protection and by helping them to march on the path of salvation. He who loses his soul, loses everything. Jesus Christ who came five centuries later than Mahavira also drew the attention of mankind to the value and importance of atman or soul. “What shall it profit a man." He asks, “If he gains the whole world and looses his own soul?” The pious Christians who live in America, Russia and other countries where the deadly weapons are being manufactured may as well ask their own countrymen, “What shall we gain if we get supremacy of the earth and loose our own soul?" Unfortunately there will be no getting the supremacy of the earth also, since the atom bombs will destroy everything.
In order to establish peace in the world, the importance of soul and the necessity for the practice of Ahimsa should be taught throughout the world in every village and town. Man must be made to become conscious of the supreme value of his soul and the utter uselessness of the result of inventing of the atom bombs.
Nowadays people seem to think that religion is of no use in modern life, and that it cannot play any part in shaping the character of the people. In reply we can only say in the words of Joseph Gear, “ Those who have lived among the Jainas find them a very kindly people, and better men because of their religion".
[ By Shri C. S. Mallinath]
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