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Jaina Ethics and its Refletions on Society
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The Brahmanical tradition originally did not favour the idea of renouncing the word in the prime of youth. It was only after the duties of worldly life were fulfilled that a person could adopt monk-hood to lead a retired life in the forest.
The Šramaņa tradition influenced the Brāhmaṇa tradition in this respect also.
The old division of aśramas continued, but the new idea of renouncing the world, the very day one attains detachment was also introduced.
Jaina ethics is primarily ascetic. The Śrāvakācāra includes Brahmacarya, Vānaprastha, and Saṁnyāsāśrama of Hinduism in it. In Jainism the life of a householder is meant to be a short-stay for enduring the hardships of the life of a monk. Some salient features of Jaina view on life 1. Jaina view is neither based on oneness of life as in Vedānta,
nor on momentary nature of self as in Buddhism. It is based on equalities of life. All souls are equal. That is why nonviolence in Jainism takes into account not only the human beings or animals or insects but even plant-life or one sensed
elemental life. 2. The social life as anticipated by Jaina ethics does not make
any distinction on the basis of caste, creed or colour but the Jaina society adopted caste system from Hinduism and observe it as strictly as the latter. If a foreigner comes to India, he can not distinguish between the two religious and
two communities. 3. Jaina ethics is based on fundamental doctrine of non
absolutism (anekāntavāda). This has saved Jaina Ethics from being one sided. Jaina Ethics always takes into account all the different views and tries to reconcile them e.g. various factors of time, nature, fate, accident and matter find their proper place in Jaina view of life.
