________________
Anekānta: Its Relevance to the Modern Times
- Dr. Anil Dhar
Religion & philosophy have been with us (mankind) since times immemorial. This world has had different religion & philosophies, during the course of development. Religion gives ethics, morality, and philosophy together with logic and reasoning. In India, we have seen the rise and development of Vedic, Jain & Buddhist religions and their allied philosophies, in a complementary co-existing state of simultaneous existence. Indian schools of philosophy are broadly divided into two schools of thoughts: (i) Vedic & (ii) Non-Vedic.
Vedic Philosophy is further divided into six schools viz. (a) Sāmkhya (b) Yoga (c) Nyāya (d) Vaiseșika (e) Mimāmsă & (f) Vedānta, and three non-vedic philosophies are Jain, Boddha and Cārvāka. All have their own characteristics. Similarly Jain philosophy has its own speciality i.e. Anekānta. Historical Background
Prior to Bhagavan Mahavira, it was a period of philosophic disputes. Sometimes it would touch illogical limits. Jain scriptures' & Buddhists scriptures? put the number of religions schools prevalent at that stage of time at 363 & 63 respectively.
Jain traditions have divided these 363 schools of Philosophy into four broad classes, i.e. 1. (Kriyāvādi)- Action-oriented-who considered the soul
to be the doer of actions and enjoyed its good and/or
bad results. IMET HET 413 – FHER, 2001 C
-
153
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
