Comparative Study Of Jaina Theories Of Reality And Knowledge

Author(s): Y J Padmarajaiah
Publisher: Jain Sahitya Vikas Mandal

Page 21

INTRODUCTION
Constructive thinking thrives on vigorous criticism. The most formidable critical force ever directed against the schools of Brahminism and Jainism was Buddhism. After the disappearance of Buddhism from the scene of India, metaphysical thinking in the Brahminical and the Jaina schools became
stagnant.
In the last few decades, however, a new life has stirred in the philosophical circles of India—thanks to the impact of Western ideas, philosophical and scientific, on the traditional patterns of thinking and study. One of the forms this life has taken is the desire to understand where the Indian and the Western trends of philosophical thought meet, and where they part. Concurrently the interrelations of ideas among the Indian schools themselves have been subjected to intensive investigation. In other words, the method of comparative study which springs from the extended bounds of our philosophical knowledge, is gradually gaining ground, often unwittingly, as an important organ of investigation. A closer investigation of problems on comparative lines may reveal deeper affinities as well as sharper divergences, in these fields of study, than hitherto suspected.
In pursuing the comparative method of investigation it is necessary to be on one's guard against superficial and misleading resemblances among ideas. One should bear in mind