Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin 1

Author(s): Nathmal Tatia
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

Page 244

FOUNDATIONS OF WORLD PEACE
The conflict
between socialism and
AHIMSA AND ANEKANTA 233 democracy has assumed an alarming dimension. Communism is determined to bring about a revolution in every country and convert the peoples of the world to its creed. It manifests all the characteristics of fanaticism which marked the expansion of Islam in its political conquest. The catast rophe, the third world war, can be averted if the powers standing for different socio-political organizations realize the futility of extremistic policies. Let each nation follow its ideology and seek to achieve complete success within its frontiers. Let them accept the principle of live and let live if not as a creed at least as a practical policy. The problem of poverty and unemployment and the wastage of national energy must be solved by each nation. If a government fails to tackle this problem with sincerity of purpose it runs the risk of being supplanted by another promising better results. In the achievement of this task the attitude of Anekanta if properly and judiciously cultivated will play a momentous role. The doctrine of anekanta which counsels avoidance of extremes, need not be confined to speculative thought. Its application to the practical conduct of human affairs in the individual's field of activity or in the national plane is imperative.
It may be argued that the spirit of moderation fostered by anekānta philosophy may breed self-complacency and latitudinarianism. If the possibility of the opposite ideology be conceded one may develop lukewarm attitude and not be enthusiastic and lack in zeal in the cause of his own accepted creed. It will undermine the robust faith necessary for the unwavering pursuit of the task enjoined upon him. Laxity in conviction will make a man liable to change his faith over to another under temptation or provocation.
But this unwelcome upshot is not necessarily entailed by the psychology of anekanta. One may be unyielding in one's faith and yet not intolerant of other creeds. An orthodox Hindu, firm in his conviction and strictly observant of the discipline enjoined by his religion, may have the charity to believe in the sincerity of a
Christian or a Muslim This is the secret of the unmolested co-existence of different faiths in India, though mutually antagonistic to all appearances. Unfortunately this spirit of accommodation is not appreciated by followers of creeds imported from foreign lands. We may however plead for the cultivation of this accommodative attitude not only in the field of religion but also in politics and pursuit of economic policies. None should develop a one-track mind and refuse to take into account the interests of the other party. In