Why The Act of 'Ostentatious Piety' Of Jains Is Also Wrong
By Sumit Paul, New Age
Islam
24 June
2024
Recently,
the Jain community in Delhi came together to raise Rs. 1.5 million, which they
used to buy 124 goats to prevent their sacrifice on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha - a prominent Muslim
festival. According to a report by The Print, the brain behind this plan is a
30-year-old chartered accountant, Vivek Jain, who has stored the ‘saved’ goats
in a temple in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk.
While it's
a heart-warming piece of news, Jains are going gaga over this and glorifying
this act in such a condescending manner as if they've saved mankind from an
impending disaster!
No doubt,
the life of even an ant does matter but why must you advertise your act of
piety? This is ostentatious piety which
should also be criticised.
There's a
famous saying in Urdu, Neki Kar, Dariya
Mein Daal (loosely translated, Don't advertise or highlight your acts of
piety). Glorification of piety devalues and demeans your gestures of goodness
and kindness. Kharati Darati Pricchham
Chirayati (Leave behind what good you did and don't dwell upon that) is the
oldest (nearly 2100-yr-old) Agam Sutra
in Jainism. To advertise is to minimize; minimize the intent and intensity of
your good deed/s.
In these
times of overactive social media when things go viral before one can say Jack
Robinson and everyone is agog to hog the proverbial Warholian limelight for 15
minutes, such acts of 'exceptional piety' receive great traction and draw the
attention of indolent lotus-eaters.
Never
forget that such acts of piety and kindness towards animals took place in the
past as well but those were different days and people were also saner.
Way back in
1961, a group of Hindus rescued 100-odd goats and a few camels from getting
slaughtered during the occasion of Bakrid
in Rajasthan's Tonk district which had a sizable population of Muslims. It
still has. No one knows who those people were as they didn't disclose their
names. Only a small-time Punjabi newspaper from Sri Ganganagar (Rajasthan)
reported this and that too after more than four months. Those kind people had
no desire for fame and publicity. They rescued the animals out of genuine
compassion for them. Painting the town red wasn't their intention or objective.
In 1969, an
anonymous Parsi at Navsari in Gujarat bought more than 50 goats during Eid-ul-Azha and distributed them among
poor Gujarati farmers because Gujaratis refrain from eating meat. That Parsi
gentleman also didn't disclose his name. His kind gesture was all the more
mentionable as Parsis are hard-core non-vegetarians. You may have hardly come
across a completely vegetarian Parsi as they eat beef, pork, mutton, chicken,
eggs and everything. In fact, a vegetarian Parsi is an oxymoron. Yet, he saved
animals from getting butchered and gave them away to those who didn't eat meat.
Nowadays, we're too much into self-glorification and all types of Nautanki (charade).
To cut a
long story short: Do good sans a skerrick of publicity. Don't blow your own
trumpet. You're not the first-ever person doing something good for the first
time. Remember, the couplet written by Urdu poet Ehsan Danish, "Tujh Se Pahle, Tujh Se Zyada Nek Log
Thay/Akela Ek Tu Hi Nek Nahin Iss Jahan Mein" (There were nobler souls
before you/You're not the only noble one in this world).
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A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in
comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed
articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including
Persian.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/act-ostentatious-piety-jains-wrong/d/132561
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