''Parasparopagraho Jīvānām'' (Sanskrit: परस्परोपग्रहो जीवानाम्) is a

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

aphorism from the '' Tattvārtha Sūtra'' .21 It is translated as "Souls render service to one another". It is also translated as, "All life is bound together by mutual support and interdependence." These translations are virtually the same (by virtue, that is), because Jains believe that ''every living being, from a plant or a bacterium to human, has a soul and the concept forms the very basis of Jainism''.

Motto of Jainism

The aphorism ''Parasparopagraho Jīvānām'' has been accepted as the motto of Jainism. pp.2926-27 It stresses the philosophy of non-violence and ecological harmony on which the Jain ethics and doctrine—especially the doctrines of

Ahimsa Ahimsa (, IAST: ''ahiṃsā'', ) is the ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to all living beings. It is a key virtue in most Indian religions: Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.Bajpai, Shiva (2011). The History of India � ...

and

Anekantavada ( hi, अनेकान्तवाद, "many-sidedness") is the Jain doctrine about metaphysical truths that emerged in ancient India. It states that the ultimate truth and reality is complex and has multiple aspects. According to Jainism, ...

—are based. This motto is inscribed in

Devanagari Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the ...

script at the base of the symbol of Jainism which was adopted by all sects of Jainism while commemorating the 2500th anniversary of

nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lamp Richard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colomb ...

Mahavira Mahavira (Sanskrit: महावीर) also known as Vardhaman, was the 24th ''tirthankara'' (supreme preacher) of Jainism. He was the spiritual successor of the 23rd ''tirthankara'' Parshvanatha. Mahavira was born in the early part of the 6 ...

Jain declaration of Nature

The noted Indian Jurist and Jain leader,

Laxmi Mall Singhvi Laxmi Mall Singhvi (9 November 1931 – 6 October 2007) was an Indian jurist, parliamentarian, scholar, writer and diplomat. He was, after V. K. Krishna Menon, the second-longest-serving High Commissioner for India in the United Kingdom (1991– ...

in his famous "Jain declaration of Nature", notes: The extent of all life being bound together by mutual support and interdependence may also be put into context among the first known postulations for the existence of unseen microbial life and atomic particles, by the Jains.

References

{{Jainism Topics Mottos Jain philosophy