Lessons of Ahimsa and Anekanta for Contemporary Life

Author(s): Tara Sethia
Publisher: California State Polytechnic University Pomona

Page 155

Lessons of Ahimsă and Anekānta for Contemporary Life
One of the textbooks has no discussion of Jainism at all, since it is actually not what its title--A Concise History of India-- claims to be, but rather a concise history of India since the Mughals. The term “Jains” and the name Mahāvira do, however, appear in the Glossary of the book [Metcalf and Metcalf).
A History of India by Kulke and Rothermund devotes just two sentences mentioning Mahāvīra. This brevity of coverage by itself is not the only problem. The larger problem arises from the nature of the content and the context in which these few sentences appear. Consider the following paragraph:
The new Gangetic civilisation found its spiritual expression in a reform movement which was a reaction to the Brahmin-Kshatriya alliance of Late Vedic age. This reform movement is mainly identified with the teachings of Gautama Buddha who is regarded as the first historic figure in Indian history... The Buddha, however, was not the only great reformer of the age. There was also Mahavira, the founder of Jainism, who is supposed to have been a younger contemporary of Buddha... It could be said that Mahavira's teachings reappeared in the rigorous ethics of Mahatma Gandhi, who was influenced by Jainism as he grew up in Gujarati Bania family, the Banias being a dominant traders'
caste... [Kulke and Rothermund, pp. 51-52] The above has problems ranging from lack of focus to inaccurate historical facts, from problems of definition to the problems of interpretation.
John Keay asserts, his history is 'not a cultural history of India, let alone history of Indian “cults.” If it has a bias, it is in favor of chronology... This might seem rather elementary; but chronology is often a casualty of interpretative urge which underlies much of Indian history writing.' [Keay, p. xix] There is only a marginal mention of Mahāvīra and Jainism.
Stanley Wolpert's A New History of India does, however, touch upon the issues of context, milieu, the founder" and the schism, although in a somewhat sketchy manner. The discussion of the topic is located mainly in the context of ancient India.
The book by Stein attempts to trace the religious developments beyond the ancient period, but is overtly repetitive.
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