This is the threat of war which has been for mankind a sort of undulant fever of increasing malevolence which now threatens his very existence. If world war should come again it is certain that most that we value will be destroyed, hundreds of millions will die and the surface of the earth be as despoiled that a recovery may take a million years. The world itself looks as though it is on the verge of complete destruction. Man with the help of his scientific knowledge has rolled the globe and placed it on the jaws of death. Jainism has been teaching that soul or atmanis the only precious thing in the whole world.
Nothing is comparable to it.
The scientist himself who has discovered so many wonderful things was able to do so only because of his own soul which is, in other words. The Jaina conception of soul and knowledge being identically analogous to Einstein's theory of matter and energy being equivalent, which is again the teaching of Jaina metaphysics. The unique nature of soul and all its wonderful qualities have been taught to the world by the great teachers. Lord Mahavira emphasized the supreme value of soul as a thing which must be protected and developed at any cost. Man should not only care for the welfare and advancement of his soul but also help the souls of all sentient beings by giving them protection and by helping them to march on the path of salvation.