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Application of Anekāntavāda
Dr. Rajesh Kumar
Yam Saiva Samupāste śīva iti, Brahmeti Vedāntino, Bauddha Buddha iti pramāṇapatavah, karteti Naiyāyikā Arhannityut Jaina Sasanratā, karmeti Mīmānsakā, soyaṁ vovidahātu vanchitaphalam trilokyanāthohārini //
Hanumannāțaka (Mangalācarana) To whom Saivites pray as Śiva and Vedantists pray as Brahma, he is the same. The above verse describes the Indian culture of 'Ekam Sat’, that there is only one truth, be it be God or anything else. The concept of Anekāntavāda or non-absolutism is based and is deeply rooted in Indian culture and tradition. The Jaina theory of nonabsolutism stresses that a particular thing or object will look differently but ultimately it is one. It believes that any problem will take different shape according to the angle or perspective from which it is seen. In other words, a person sees what he wants to see. Just like the saying "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”, the opposite can also be true. The concept of Anekānta lays emphasises on an individual to accept others views and accommodates them. It advises to take a natural or moderate path and not to go to extremes. Therefore, Anekānta means not one-sided exposition but many-sided exposition from all possible angles regarding any idea or object. But, this concept should not be confused with contradiction or indeterminism contradiction arises when we are talking opposite things about the same object, but, once we realise that the opposite things are when viewed from different sides,
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