Acharya Mahaprajna
Then, how can we bring others in the fold of Lord Mahavira's teachings? Nonetheless, if we do not put the comparison in perspective, it would be tantamount to biased thinking. Mahavira never wanted this kind of biased thinking. He never maintained that whatever he said was the only truth. Appana sachmesejja 'search the faith within yourself.' Nobody can say that the truth searched by Mahavira is now obsolete and old. Mahavira says 'Search the truth yourself.' This leads to a new vision. Apart from being attracted to his words, we are attracted to his thoughts. Think, search and ponder; and if these sound well, then alone accept them.
We do not accept Mahavira only because of an established faith. We do not have dislike against anybody because of malice. We have tested and we found credibility in the personality of Mahavira. And that is why we are attracted towards Mahavira's philosophy. He made it clear that one should not get attracted to a person named Mahavira; forget that there is some person with the name of Mahavira. Mahavira was not a supporter of hero-worship.
Let us now see Gandhi, Marx and Keynes from this perspective.
Gandhi possessed outstanding qualities as a great man. Sometimes, a thought comes to mind: Can a common man living in a society maintain such a personality? Gandhi did what he said, and said what he did. He did not give any importance to happiness or unhappiness. He was a very outstanding personality. We express our agreement with his principles with great reverence.
