First Steps to Jainism Part 2

Author(s): Sancheti Asso Lal, Manakmal Bhandari
Publisher: Sancheti Trust Jodhpur

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First Steps to Jainism
dictions. The position will be clear if illustrated with the too wellknown story of the elephant and the six blind men.
6. It is said that six blind men approached an elephant and each of them caught hold of a different part of the body of the elephant. Each one of the blind men, therefore, formed his own image of the huge animal. The man who caught the tail of the elephant thought it to be like a long rope. The one holding the leg of the animal thought it was like a pillar. The third one who got the ear in his hands thought the elephant was like a huge fan. The fourth man who held the trunk of the elephant considered that it was like a python. Another holding the stomach thought it was like a drum. The one who got on the back of the elephant considered that it was like a platform.
7. Since they were certain that they were right in their conjectures each of the six blind men held fast to his view about the elephant holding it sacrosant, at the same time calling the views held by the others as absolutely false. This led to acrimony and would bave resulted in a fight, but for the intervention of a wise man who explained the correct position to the six blind men, by making them feel the other parts of the elephant. They, then, realized that though each of them was partly correct in his imagination of the elephant, but the others were equally correct in their conje ctures of the animal from their stand-points and that the true and total picture of the elephant could be appreciated by understanding the views held by each one of them with the reasons therefor.
8. In the above illustrative story the six blind men, when they held fast to their individual picture of the elephant as a rope or a pillar, were adopting an ekantvadi or one-sided approach, which was obviously false. When they appreciated the view points of the others in addition to their own, and the reasons thereform-thus knowing the true nature of the elephant they were on the right road of Anekantavad or non-onesidedness.
9. From a superficial view the doctrine may appear too simple and obvious and thus insignificant. It may not be considered justified that so much importance has been attached to it in the philosophical sphere that it is considered a major contribution of Jainism. However, if it is remembered that much violence has resulted from