JAINISM: A CONCISE ENCYCLOPEDIA

Jainism is not a religion in the Western or Semitic sense of the term, but in the Indian or Eastern sense, which is no more than a way of life that insists on cessation from violence, theft, lies, having possessions, or indulgence in sensual pleasures. It is one of the six daily duties of Jain laymen to show compassion to all living beings and to help the needy. Four kinds of gifts are to be offered to the distressed - food (ahara), protection (abhaya), medicine (ausadha), and learning (sastra) - irrespective of faith, caste, or creed.