Central Philosophy of Jainism Anekanta Vada

Author(s): Bimal Krishna Matilal, Nagin J Shah, Dalsukh Malvania
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 70

In Defence of the Jaina Position
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To sum up: The anekānta-vāda is thus a philosophy of synthesis and reconciliation since it tries to establish a rapproachment between seemingly disagreeing philosophical schools. Jaina philosophers contend that no philosophic proposition can be true if it is only unconditionally asserted. They say that the lesson to be drawn from age-old disputes and controversies regarding philosophic or metaphysical propositions is the following. Each school asserts its thesis and claims it to be true. Thus a philosopher does not really understand the point that is being made by the opposite side. Rival schools only encourage dogmatism and intoleration in philosophy. This, according to the Jainas, is the evil of ekānta 'one sided' philosophies. Even the conflicting propositions of rival schools may be in order, provided they are asserted with proper qualifications or conditionalization. This is what exactly the Anekanta doctrine teaches. Add a syāt particle to your philosophic proposition and you have captured the truth,
Non-violence, i. e. abstention from killing or taking the life of others, was the dominent trend in the whole śramana movement in India, particularly in Buddhism and Jainism. I think the Jainas carried the principle of non-violence to the intellectual level, and thus propounded their anekānta doctrine. Thus the hallmark of the anekānta doctrine. was toleration. The principal embodied in the respect for the life of others was transformed by the Jaina philosophers at the intellectual level into respect for the views of others. This is, I think, a unique attempt to harmonize the persistent discord in the field of philosophy.