Anekantavada - Wikipedia
Anekāntavāda (Hindi: अनेकान्तवाद , "many-sidedness") is the Jain doctrine about metaphysical truths that emerged in ancient India.[1] It states that the ultimate truth and reality is complex and has multiple aspects.[2] Anekantavada has also been interpreted to mean non-absolutism, "intellectual Ahimsa",[3] religious pluralism,[4] as well as a rejection of fanaticism that leads to terror attacks and mass violence.[5] Some scholars state that modern revisionism has attempted to reinterpret anekantavada with religious tolerance, openmindedness and pluralism.[6][7].The word may be literally translated as “non-one-sidedness doctrine,” or “the doctrine of not-one-side.”
According to Jainism, no single, specific statement can describe the nature of existence and the absolute truth. This knowledge (Kevala Jnana), it adds, is comprehended only by the Arihants. Other beings and their statements about absolute truth are incomplete, and at best a partial truth.[8] All knowledge claims, according to the anekāntavāda doctrine must be qualified in many ways, including being affirmed and denied.[9] Anekāntavāda is a fundamental doctrine of Jainism.
