Introduction to Jainism

Author(s): Rudi Jansma, Sneh Rani Jain
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

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INTRODUCTION TO JAINISM
I would like to present here the inherent affinity Jain tenets have with ecology with the help of what this tradition has acquired and inherited in the form scriptures. Many of these sources are still available and waiting to be utilized for improving the health of the ecology of this planet. But we failed to take steps in that direction, why?
It seems that at some point of time the system of studying the old texts with the freedom of exploring other than the assigned themes and meanings broke down. A larger majority of available texts were branded as religious and spiritual. That appears to be the reason for exclusively religious, ritualistic and sectarian commentaries by the later traditional scholars and thinkers. It is time that the cocoon of obscure and ritualistic traditional interpretations is shattered, and the ancient texts are examined from different angles and that an attempt is made to explore new meanings and interpretations. In all probability this would open up new dimensions of information and knowledge.
In this context the first sermon of Bhagavan Mahāvīra, written down as the Āchārānga Sūtra, is very significant. It is the first of the eleven extent Anga Sūtras (the primary canons or the main corpus of the Jain canonical texts. These consist of twelve treatises, eleven of which are extent – at least according to the Svetambara tradition, though not according to the Digambaras, who maintain that the original texts were destroyed even in Mahāvīra's days).
The traditional interpretation of the Āchārānga Sūtra or for that matter any other Jain scripture is directed at the spiritual realm. This is of course extremely valuable. But traditionalists came to maintain and emphasize that this is the only interpretation and there is no scope for any other viewpoint. But such an absolutist attitude is against the Jain doctrine of anekāntavāda, which teaches the lawfulness and necessity of multiple viewpoints.
If we look at the Achārānga Sūtra from the standpoint of the environment we will find that it abounds in information in relation to the environment. In fact it would not be