From the Introduction. Gentlemen, I stand before you this noon to speak on a religion which was preached in this Bharatvasha in time out of mind by the Kshatriyas, a religion that was preached neither by the Brahmans, nor by the Vaishyas, nor by the Sudras, but I say, by the Kshatriyas. I stand before you to speak on a religion that was preached not, by such Kshatriyas as hunt life, sacrifice life, and eat life, but by Kshatriyas who made a universal proclamation "Ahimsa Paramo Dharmah!" "Destroy no living creature! Injure no living creature! This is the highest religion;" who have said thus, spoken thus, declared thus, and explained thus: "As is my pain when I am knocked, struck, menaced, beaten, burned, tormented, or deprived of life; and as I feel every pain and agony from death down to the pulling out of a hair; in the same way, be sure of this, all kinds of living beings feel the same pain and agony as I, when they are ill-treated in the same way. For this reason, all sorts of living beings should not be beaten, nor treated with violence, nor abused, nor tormented, nor deprived of life." Gentlemen, I stand before you this noon to speak on a religion whose glory the dumb creatures, the cows, the goats, the sheep, the lambs; the hens, the pigeons, and all other living creatures, the beasts and the birds sing with their mute tongues; the only religion which has for thousands of years past advocated the cause of the silent-tongued animals; the only religion which has denounced slaughter of animals for sacrifice, food, hunting, or any other purpose whatsoever; the only religion which has fully acted up to the principle of Ahimsa Paramo Dharmah! and carried it out faithfully and loyally; and making hundreds of people its converts, has saved myriads of lives that should have been otherwise massacred for providing them with food, if they were life-eaters, and for the purpose of their sacrifices and hunting, if they were addicted to these evils also. Gentlemen, I stand before you to speak on the Daya-Maya Dharma, Jainism, which saved lives nqt only by making thousands of people its converts from the moment when the Rishi Rishabha first preached it, down to the present date, but which also moved the heart of even non-Jain Rajas and kings who issued Firmans and proclamations to save the slaughter of animals wherever Jains lived. We not only read that such Jain Rajas as the celebrated Asoka (and he was a Jain according to Raja Tarangini, Ain-i- Akbari, Asoka Avadhana, the inscriptions at Girnar, and Jain traditions, before he became a Bauddha) proclaimed from the Icy Himalaya down to Cape Comorin, from Gujerat to Behar, that no animal should be killed for any purpose whatsoever, but we also read that such Mahometan kings as the mighty and tolerant Akbar issued Firmans that no animal should be slaughtered during Paggusan days in places where Jains dwelt. Hindu Rajas like the Maharana Shri Raj Singh of the ten thousand villages of Mewar issued commandments to their nobles. Ministers, Patels and Patwaris; "(1) That from time immemorial the temples and dwellings of the Jains have been authorised; let none, therefore, within their boundary, carry animals to slaughter - This is their ancient privilege. (2) Whatever life, whether male or female, passes their abode for the purpose of being killed is "amarak" (is saved.)" Even now we find in many places privileges granted to the Jains that on Panchami, Ashtami and Chaturdashi, no animal should be slaughtered where Jains live. Nay, even the Bharbhooja cannot burn his Bhar on these sacred days. In my native place the butcher cannot cross the Jain lane with baskets containing flesh. And this, Daya-maya Dharma Jainism. was preached by Kshatriyas, and neither by the Brahmans, nor by the Vaishyas, nor by the Sudras....