Tulsi Prajna 2001 07

SR No.: 524608
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Shanta Jain, Jagatram Bhattacharya
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati
Publication Year: 2001
Total Pages: 170
Language: Hindi
Classification: Magazine, India_Tulsi Prajna, & India
File Size: 8 MB

Page 117

difference, then matter becomes hidden. We are faced with change and change, modification and modification! What is man? Man is not just matter. Where is man? Search the world over and you would not find any substance called man. Man is a change. Neem is not a substance, it is also the result of a change. All the objects we see in this world, they are all results of changes. We are seeing the changes, matter does not appear before us. It is hidden from our eyes. This truth is best expressed in Acharya Hemchandra's words:
If we go along the direction of unity or non-difference, then the modification will be hidden and what we will see is matter. Our world would become very small. Gradually it will become zero or empty. If we go along the path of differences, then substance will get hidden and what will emerge are the changes. Our world would become very large. Difference will swallow similarity and there will be only a larger and larger world.
As a conclusion to my understanding of Anekanta, I present a recent scientific finding. According to the latest genome research, all human races are 99.99 per cent alike. What makes me different from anybody else in the room, is the change that has happened in the .01 per cent of the gene. In fact then what we are seeing as different human beings, with different creed, colour, religion are all only expressions of changes in matter, which is 99.99 per cent alike!
If that is not humbling enough, here is another finding: humans have 30,000 genes, thrice the number as in houseflies and five times as many as in a bacteria. Not only are the numbers similar, the genes themselves, barring a few are similar! Research actually says 2000 myr ago, men and mice may have originated from the same ancestor! Scientists say that the changes in man in different parts of the world are his responses and adjustments to the environment. So in effect when you see me, I am actually just a changed manifestation of any one of you.
Till recently anekanta was viewed as the gateway to non-violence, and tolerance because it makes room for contradictory opinions and views to live together amicably and with equal respect. Sarva dharma sad bhavam is a anekantic view. Today genome research has further enhanced the scope of understanding anekanta: if all men are just manifestations of changes, what is there to fight over?
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Vice-Chancellor
Jain Vishva Bharati Institute Ladnun- 341 306 (Rajasthan)
। तुलसी प्रज्ञा अंक 113 114