People from across the country and 200 locations in world joined Navkar Mahamantra Diwas for peace, harmony: JITO president

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], April 10 (ANI): People from 200 locations across the globe joined the Navkar Mahamantra Diwas to promote world peace and harmony, Jain International Trade Organisation (JITO) president Vijay Bhandari said on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Navakar Mahamantra Diwas on Wednesday (a day before Mahavir Jayanti on April 10) at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.
"Navkar Mahamantra Divas was for world peace and harmony. Navkar Mahamantra is a 'maha mantra' like the Gayatri mantra. People from across the country and 200 locations in the world joined this program during which Navkar Mahamantra was chanted yesterday."," Bhandari said on PM Modi attending the Navkar Mahamantra Diwas.
The Navkar Mantra is central to Jain prayers. Inaugurating the Navakar Mahamantra Diwas on Wednesday, PM Modi remarked on his roots in Gujarat, where the influence of Jainism is evident in every street. The Prime Minister explained how, from a young age, he had the privilege of being in the company of Jain acharyas.
"Navkar Mantra is not just a mantra but the core of faith and the essence of life. One bows to the 108 divine qualities and remembers the welfare of humanity when reciting the Navkar Mantra," he said.
In a poetic tribute to the power of "nine" in Indian and Jain traditions, he proposed nine resolutions (on water conservation, healthy life, cleanliness, among others) anchored in the Navkar Mantra. He also noted how repeating the mantra nine times, or in its multiples like 27, 54, or 108, represents spiritual completeness and intellectual clarity.
"Jain literature has been the backbone of India's intellectual heritage, and preserving this knowledge is a duty," PM Modi said, highlighting the government's decision to grant classical language status to Prakrit and Pali, enabling further research on Jain literature.
Jain literature, etched in Prakrit and Pali, holds profound treasures of thought. The government's initiative to grant these languages classical status and digitize Jain manuscripts under the Gyan Bharatam Mission is a tribute to this ancient wisdom.
Additionally, while talking about the practice of sustainability among the Jain community, the prime minister also pointed out the government's Mission LiFE. Mission LiFE, launched in 2021, "aims to nudge individuals and communities to practice a lifestyle that is synchronous with nature and does not harm it". The mission targets to turn up to 80 per cent of villages and urban local bodies environment-friendly by 2028.
Jainism's emblem, "Parasparopagraho Jivanam", meaning the mutual interdependence of all life offers a deeply ecological worldview. (ANI)