Lessons of Ahimsa and Anekanta for Contemporary Life

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

Page 163

Lessons of Ahimsa and Anekānta for Contemporary Life
suicide. And, as pointed out earlier, Mahāvīra certainly did no such thing. The practice of sallekhana is practiced among the Jains but it is not considered "suicide,” though it may appear as such to those unfamiliar with the Jain tradition and its commitment to the principle of non-attachment (aparigraha)." On the contrary the practice of sallekhana is regarded as the “most auspicious way that life can end."12 V. Neo-Orientalism?
Nineteenth century Indological discourse was characterized either by the Romantic notions of India which represented mystical and the exotic in things Indian or by the Positivist and Utilitarian views of India which expressed about India a sense of contempt and disdain. Neo orientalist discourse is simultaneously mystical and disdainful. Representing people, culture or even ideas in this fashion makes it easier for one to dismiss what might be actually significant about them. The following description of the historical milieu of Buddha and Mahāvīra is the case in point.
Rival holy men swarm across the countryside performing feats of endurance, disputing one another's spiritual credentials and vying with one another for followers and patronage... Saints or charlatans, they evidently mirrored a society to which the paranormal, the supernatural and metaphysical had a strong appeal. Many of them went naked or unwashed and they cheerfully flouted the taboos of caste system. Defying social convention, they yet enjoyed society's indulgence. Renunciation had become an accepted way of life in which asceticism was seen as a prerequisite to spiritual enlightenment. The philosophies on offer from this rag-tag army of reformers ranged from the mind boggling mysticism to defiant nihilism and blank agnosticism, from the outright materialism of the Lokayats to the heavy determinism of the Ajivikas, from the
Wolpert incorrectly translates aparigraha to mean poverty. See, Stanley Wolpert, A New History of India (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 51.
12 Chapple, op. cit., pp. 99-109; For a fuller discussion of this practice, see Jaini, The Jaina Path, op. cit., pp. 227-233;
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