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The Central Philosophy of Jainism and Sri Ramakrishna's
Religious Pluralism Dr. Anupam Jash*
Sri Ramakrishna was not a Philosopher in the academic sense of the term. But we may try to derive a philosophy of Sri Ramakrishna from the great book ‘Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita' and tried to make an in-depth study of different aspects of Sri Ramakrishna philosophical thought and to make a systematic presentation of it. As Aldous Huxley has says in his foreword of 'The Gospels of Sri Ramakrishna' that the book contains the casual and unstudied utterances of a great religious teacher’, it may be useful to present in a systematic form what Sri Ramakrishna's utterances mean as far as we can make it out. In the publishers note of the book “Sri Ramakrishna's thoughts on Man, World and God' written by Swami Tapasyananda, the President of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, also says in the same strain that, “there is an urgent need today to make an in-depth study of Sri Ramakrishna's ideas, to discover his philosophy, and to present it in a systematic format"?. An attempt has been made here to focus on Sri Ramakrishna's philosophical thought at least some main strands of it, as evidenced in his utterances in the 'Gospel, by relating it to the concepts of Jaina systems of Philosophy.
Jaina is among the oldest and the most influential system of classical Indian thought and religious practice. In its classical form it constitute one of the major systems of Hindu philosophy, and its influence has been pervasive throughout Indian culture.
Asstt. Prof. of Philosophy, Bankura Christian College, W. B.
