ABSTRACT
India's caste system regulates the specific forms of clothing for men and women sometimes to the minutest detail, depending on their caste and their marital status. There is a long history of nonviolence in India. Its most important advocates have been the Jains. While many spiritual traditions endorse nonviolence, Jainism is the only one in which nonviolence is the first and central principle. The word Jains use for nonviolence is ahimsa. Mahatma K. Gandhi was exposed to Jainism from his childhood. He endorsed ahimsa, not only as nonviolence and non-hurting, but also in the positive spirit of compassionate love for all living creatures. Gandhi never abandoned the Jain philosophy of non-hurting and tolerance. Gandhi accepted their simple lifestyle and the Jain conviction that, since truth shows itself in many ways, none of us may be in possession of the whole truth.
