Where has Anekaantvaad (Pluralism) of Jainism gone?

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam

14 February 2023

Where's Their Ahimsa (Non-Violence) or Anekaantvaad? Jains Cannot Deny Their Dubious Role in Gujarat Pogrom in 2002 When They, Along With Hindus, Massacred Helpless Muslims

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A common illustration of Anekantvad: imagine 6 blind people all interacting with different parts of an elephant. Not knowing what it is, they might all guess they’re touching various objects depending on what part of the elephant they sense. None of them are objectively wrong, per se, but are only in a position to view a partial truth.

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Recently, Arshad Madani said that Om and Allah were same and Manu was Adam who worshipped Allah. It's worthwhile to note that believers believe that Manu or Adam was the progenitor of humanity. While this is redolent of Muslims' stupid belief that theirs is the only religion right from the creation of earth and Allah is an all-encompassing divine entity, Jain Acharya Dr Lokesh Muni's abrupt reaction and storming off the stage along with other religious scholars should also be condemned.

This popular Jain muni must be aware that it's Jainism which gave arguably the most beautiful and unifying concept of Anekaantvaad (Anek+Ant+Vaad: Pluralism; multi-layering or Open-end doctrine) that considers truth to be relative and never absolute. Everyone can be right and everyone is entitled to his/her views. You may not agree with certain views, but you cannot and shouldn't react violently. Let truth be individualistic.

In a pluralistic set up, every viewpoint has its place, even if it may annoy some people or a group. This Anekaantvaad of Jainism is also called Syaadvaad (from Arabic ' Shayad' or Maybe). To encapsulate, Anekaantvaad or Syaadvaad of Jainism is, Shayad Yah Bhi Sahi, Wah Bhi Sahi (this could be right, that could also be right). So, as a ' practitioner' of such a fantastic and all-embracing idea, Lokesh muni leaving in a huff shows that he preaches water but drinks wine. Equating Om with Allah annoyed him but I ask him, does conventional Jainism believe even in Om? It believes in Kaivalya (kind of nihilistic Ex- nihilo or spiritual nihilism).

Jainism is an atheistic faith like Buddhism that branched out of Hinduism 2,600 years ago. While Buddhism could establish itself as a separate belief system (I’m not talking about neo-Buddhists or Ambedkaraites), Jainism has remained in the penumbra of Hinduism. All the sects of Jainism worship Hindu gods and goddesses along with their Teerthankars. In other words, they want to eat the cake and have it too. So, their Munis also have Hindu leanings. In fact, Jains are Hindus. That's why, when Madani said something derogatory about Hindu faith, Lokesh also took umbrage.

Having interacted with Jain Munis for years, I've realized that some of them simply dislike Muslims. Where's their Ahimsa (non-violence) or Anekaantvaad? Jains cannot deny their dubious role in Gujarat pogrom in 2002 when they, along with Hindus, massacred helpless Muslims. We're all tarred with the same brush. Stop calling Madani a scholar and Lokesh a muni. All are morbid zealots.

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A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian.

 

URL:   https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/anekaantvaad-pluralism-jainism-muslims/d/129098

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