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"Restraint is the mark of Indian Culture.” This sense of possession is the source of all the five evils viz. violence, untruthfulness, stealing, sensual pleasure and attachment. Today we see that the chief cause of the boundless miseries of the present world is man's uncontrolled desire to possess Man believes that possession brings happiness. But in fact possession is the cause of miseries and bondage. Possession enslaves man to external things. As the bee sucks honey from the flower without destroying it, so the welfare seeking man should do the least possible harm to another in his worldy life. Thus, expounding the five great vows Bhagwan Mahavir says, “As the wind blows across flaming fire, so ideal people observing these vows will pass through the Samsara (transmigratory existence) and attain eternal joy." Lord Mahavir has said that wants and desires have no end and only the sky is the limit for them.
When one looks at things from different angles and when one locates an element of truth in everything, it leads one to 'Anekant' i.e. many sided or many faceted approach. Not that what I say is the only and the ultimate truth'; but 'what in truth is mine' is the correct approach one should not be rigid and dogmatic towards one's own approach but one should also be generous enough to concede that what others perceive may also have an element of truth. Thus, the philosophy of Anekant' perceives an all sided view and is based on equality, tolerance, assimilation and coexistence. It is the right approach for reaching the truth. *Anekant' approaches everything relatively and tries to find the truth in every situation. In the life of Bhagwan Mahavir, many instances can be found where 'what is truth is mine' has been accepted. He had even persuaded Gautam,
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his most learned colleague to apologise to Shravak Anand.
During Mahavir's time, there were many controversies and many opinions expressed. Everyone tried to dispute the opinions of others so that one can prove that what one says is the only truth. But, Bhagwan Mahavir showed the path-accommodation of others' views rather than to refute others' views. He appealed to disciples to become “Anekanti in place of Ekanti'. Only when you will do this, that you will be able to percieve truth in its most clear and beautiful form. In this way he tried to fight the war that was raged between various opposing opinions, ideologies and one's own understandings. To bring home the truth behind what he was saying, he gave the illustration of the seven blind men who were trying to know what an elephant was like. It is only when human beings adopt 'Anekant that half the sorrows of life would disappear. Vinobaji considers the concept of 'Anekant' as Mahavir's greatest gift to the world.
Albert Einstien discovered the theory of relativity applicable to the physical world while Bhagwan Mahavir propounded relativity in our everyday life 2500 years ago. Acharya Jinbhadra explains the concept of 'Anekant' in the following words - "the disputes and contradictions remains intact between different opinions as long as one does not look to the truth through assimilation and coordination. The disputes between various opinions is the product of one's own faults and weaknesses."
Nowadays people seem to think that religion has little importance in modern life, and that it cannot play any significant part in shaping the character of the people. To
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