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Pro-Environmental Thoughts and Actual Practices in Jaina Tradition : A
Critical Review
(A Paper presented in the International Conference and Workshop jointly arranged by UNESCO
UOP, at Pune from 13th-16th Oct. 2012)
Introduction
In the last two decades the branch called 'Jaina Studies' is flourishing in India and abroad with amazing pace. Jaina institutions and Study Centers arrange grand conferences, symposiums and seminars with a great zeal and pomp.
The subjects like Environment, Bio-diversity, Ecology, Liberalization, Global warming, Bioethics, Feminism, Scientific Nature of Jainaism etc. are chosen because these are current popular contemporary themes. In almost 90% of the papers, the conclusion - runs likewise :
**Jaina tradition is scientific, logical and we find solutions of every problem in this revered, pious and ancient religion. Ahimsa, Anekanta, Syadvada, Nayavada, Five bigger vows, Doctrine of Karman, Jaina spiritualism and Vegeterianism contain great capacity to resolve every kind of conflicts and will bring peace, in the world."
These words are murmured like a 'Japamala' in each and every academic endeavor of Jainas. During the last 25 years I got a rare opportunity to study Jainaism from philosophical and literary point of view as well as to observe the Jaina life-style with their daily and occassional practices.
It is an established fact that Jainaism contains valuable seeds of the protection of environment. In this paper, an attempt has been made to examine and scrutinize the proenvironmental thoughts of Jainas as well as their culmination into actual practices. The congruency and in-congruency between these two is documented in this paper in a very comprehensive, lucid and brief manner.
The paper is divided into four parts viz. (A), (B), (C) and (D).
[A] The Pro-Environmental Thoughts in Jainaism (in nutshell) (i) The central part of the known universe is known as trasanadi, which is full of living entities. The scope of the living entities is from a subtle, tiny microbe upto the animals having huge size.
Besides this, there are infinite groups of nigodi-jeevas. They are undeveloped living microbes sharing a common body. The total number of all trasa-sthavara-sukshma-badara-paryapta
apryapta- living beings is mentioned as anantananta (ananta x ananta).
(ii) Basically all of them possess consciousness or cognition which is expressed in the term
upayoga? i.e. dnyana.
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