Ideals and Principles of Jainism: Modern Perspectives For a Better Society

Abstract

Jainism, as a religious as well as philosophical school of thought, has a history spanning millenniums in Indian subcontinent. Starting from times immemorial, its philosophy culminated by the time of its 24th tirthankara, Mahavira. It propounded some ideas and principles which had a long-lasting impact on the Indian society and continue to mark their presence till date. Although, some of them being too idealistic and hard to practice in full fledged ways, yet adopting them more or less can undoubtedly benefit mankind and has even done so over the past as well. These principles and ideals although appear to be ancient, yet if they will be looked upon from an analytical point of view, it presents to us some wonderful modern perspectives regarding these beliefs of Jainism. This work focuses upon delving into these ancient ideals and principles of Jainism and analyzing them from modern perspectives to find. This work will try to develop some relations between these principles and how their adoption can and will lead to a better and more prosperous society in future. This work, therefore, also focuses upon realizing that how these ancient ideals and philosophies carry dynamism which proves their utility in the modern world as well. Thus, the paper tries to explain how ancient ideals of Indian philosophical schools still hold relevance in modern times