Lessons of Ahimsa and Anekanta for Contemporary Life

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

Page 158

Tara Sethia, "Mahāvīra's Teachings in Indian History Textbooks."
Polytheism and Atheism
The inadequacy of Western framework, and the dangers of simplistic analogy to help understand this Indic tradition become apparent when some scholars attempt to explain “Tirthankaras" as "the Jain equivalents of gods," [Wolpert, p. 53] and others label Jainism, like Buddhism, as "atheistic.” [See Stein, pp. 6465; Thapar, pp. 64, 66.] In either instance, it is the construction of the Western “other”– polytheistic or atheistic. Do we have to explain Jainism, or for that matter other non-Western religions, using a Western framework? A more meaningful analysis could emerge perhaps by focusing on the worldview of the Jains. Essential to the Jain worldview is the fact that the existents in the cosmos have neither a beginning nor an end. Hence the concept of creator God is irrelevant to the Jain worldview. However, the Jains do not regard themselves as agnostics or atheists, but believe in moksa--where the liberated souls (siddhas) reside-- which they regard as their ultimate goal. Key Concepts and Teachings
What did Mahāvīra teach? These books offer us a range of interpretations of his teachings, but not any substantive discussion of what these were. We are told, Mahavira, like Buddha, “taught an ascetic world-denying philosophical and ethical system.” [Metcalf and Metcalf, p. XX] But, we never learn about the nature of this ethical system or even its principal philosophical concepts. The Jains believe, according to one author, "everything in the universe material or otherwise, has a soul. Purification of soul is the purpose of living... purification is not achieved through knowledge, knowledge being a relative quality." (Thapar, p. 65] Such statements result from a misunderstanding of the Jain worldview. First, Jainism maintains that there are two major categories (rāśī) of existents: jiva (living) ajiva (matter, non-living). Hence not everything in the universe has life. Secondly, knowledge in its highest form, which in Jainism is known as kevalajñana, is a precondition for
8 See Chapple, Nonviolence to Animals, op. cit., p. 11.
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