Lessons of Ahimsa and Anekanta for Contemporary Life

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

Page 166

Tara Sethia, "Mahavira's Teachings in Indian History Textbooks"
male really referred to men with female sexual orientation, i.e. to homosexual men. [Stein, p. 72]
The above is not supported by any evidence or footnote and is a serious misrepresentation of a tradition that emphasized brahmacharya or celibacy as one of the five key principles.'
14
These passages from Keay and Stein not only exemplify their preoccupation for the extraneous elements in a tradition, but more importantly, raise a larger issue for the integrity of the discipline of history. In the writing of history should one focus on issues central and germane to the topic or on issues which are only superficially and marginally related to the topic? This type of history writing also sets for the college students a bad example of "doing history" without proper evidence and supporting citations.
Conclusion
In my assessment, the treatment of Mahāvīra and Jainism in these textbooks is a matter of serious concern for teachers and students of Indian history, and also more generally for all those who care about education and scholarship in the Indic traditions. I am reminded of T. S. Eliot's famous lines from The Rock:
Where is wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cause of sound learning and knowledge about Jainism is lost in the poor and distorted information contained in these books. And in turn, the wisdom of this great religious tradition is lost in the superficial and misleading knowledge imparted by majority of these textbooks.
14 This is not an isolated example of Stein's selective emphasis on extraneous aspects while missing the centrality of things. In discussing India's one of the most revered leaders, Mahatma Gandhi, Stein is more concerned to point out Gandhi's "idiosyncratic authoritarianism," his "largely malign influence on women," and his preoccupation with sex and untouchability," and is less concerned by his power of satyagraha and his sacrifice for the cause of the nation and his people. See Stein, History of India, op. cit., pp. 299-302.
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