An Ahimsa Crisis: You Decide: The Menace Of Adulteration & The Jain Community

In India (and this may be the same in some other countries as well), the cancer of adulteration is not only widespread but is still growing very fast. As a result, this cancer has spread to nearly the entire body of Indian society. Hardly anything in India remains unadulterated—most food and drink items, medicines, petrol or gasoline, building materials, automobile parts, and jewelry are adulterated, substandard, cheap duplicates of the originals, poor in workmanship and quality, imitations and with deceptive labeling. Even something as simple as drinking water is being infected by greed for profit, which leads to adulterating even this. With the rise of affluence and the economy, the scope, intensity, and frequency of this disease keeps on spreading to newer heights.

Adulteration and deceptive qualities, especially in building construction, food, and medicines are the worst kinds of himsa, sin, and crimes. A robber, a murderer, or a criminal will kill or injure just a few, but the adulterers, makers, and sellers of deceptive, adulterated, and poor quality products kill not just a few but millions of innocent five-sensed human and non-human beings. This is a farce and absolutely hypocritical to care for one-sensed beings (mostly in food practices) but engage in trade and businesses where thousands of five-sensed beings are maimed, tortured, or subjected to slow deaths and agony. In India, and in several other countries too, adulteration is a national disease; it is not necessarily created by Jains but some of the Jains too are part of this menace.

Jains are business people and they are engaged in manufacture and trades of many of the items listed above. How often do the worshippers of ahimsa and Jinas stop and reflect upon what they are doing directly and indirectly, as well as sometimes knowingly and willfully? Why is there a disconnect between devotion and worship, and daily business practices?

Let me share a few of my own observations. Beyond my own limited observations, there are thousands of additional such occurrences every day.