________________ Sramana, Vol. 57, No. 3-4 July-December 2006 ANEKANTAVADA : A WAY TOWARDS WORLD PEACE Dr. Baleshwar Prasad Yadav* Abstract The world today is passing through an unprecedented crisis of non-cooperation, non-fraternity and untranquility. All these have marred the heart and mind of human civilisation. Each and every set of ideas seems to be confronted with in its extreme opposition to another one. One is understood to be wrong if one does not accord to me. A country is proved wicked if it does not follow America. The present scenario has unilaterally shifted towards the lack of sound understanding. In this situation, we may look back to Jaina philosophy for its unique contribution to anekanta thinking as it shows the rays of hope by broadening the way towards world peace. Anekanta philosophy rules out all extremisms and advances the dynamic middle way for restoring peace. Anekantavada is often rendered as the 'Theory of Relativity'. In its opposition, ekantavada is translated as the 'Theory of Absolutism.' The former is also explained by the term syadvada. Mallisena a classical exponent of Jaina Philosophy explains it as follow : " The particle - 'syat' signifies manifoldness. Therefore, syadvada is anekantavada, the doctrine of manifoldness. And that means the acceptance of the view that a single entity is variegated by many and various attributes or properties (dharma), viz., eternal, * Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith, Varanasi. Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org
