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). ------- 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 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism