Bhagavana Mahavira and his Relevance in Modern Times

Author(s): Narendra Bhanavat, Prem Suman Jain, V P Bhatt
Publisher: Akhil Bharat Varshiya Sadhumargi Jain Sangh

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In fact this is India's greatest contribution to world thought. It is not always of Schweitzer would have categorized world and life assertion and world and life negation. Man is not constantly closing himself up in cages and shutting himself into 'switch-on' and 'switchoff' mechanizations. Man is not the object but the subject of this dividing line, if any. And there is always the third possibility. Jains added this great dimension to human thinking and peeped into the world beyond. Why should we always insist on Belief in God or Non-belief in God; there can be a third Agnostic possibility. Are all so-called good or bad things always and everywhere good or bad? The same applies to the man made divisions and antinomies in every field of thought and action.
Mahavira and His Relevance
I think the greatest contribution of Jain logic is to the category 'inexpressible' (Avaktavyam). Many a thing may exist there but may be beyond human reach. Are not many starry firmaments and galaxies existing beyond human telescope-viewing; are not micro-biological specks and molecules existing beyond human microscopes. And what is true of sensual vision may be equally true of what is philosophy or literary-artistic vision. This brings Jain logic very close to modern linguistic and analytical logicians. In fact Jains applied mathematics to logic and carried it to the viable extremity. This is a field in which more research needs to be done.
Aparigraha (Non-Possession)
How far can one go in non-possession? There is a famous story of Diogenes, the Greek philosopher who lived in a tub, that the day he discovered that he could drink by cupping his palm, he threw way the half coconut-shell which he had been using as a cup. So there are Indian Sadhus who call themselves Karapātri (those who use their hands as cups or dishes). Jain mendicants carried the question to its logical extreme and said that clothing is also not necessary. A real monk is one for whom the directions and the sky are the dress and apparel (Dig+ambara). This shows that in a world where men are after material possessions and amassing things; there can be a few who can be pursuing existence and its essence without things. Matter is not all; in fact matter is naught. What matters is man and not matter.
mere
For this Jain ethics insisted on regarding outside things as means and not end in themselves. Partly because the comFor Private & Personal Use Only