Anekantavada
![Mahāvīra employed anekānta extensively to explain the Jain philosophical concepts (painting from Rajasthan, ca. 1900)](/Images/godic/202412/21/Mahavra_1900_art5057.jpg")
![](/Images/godic/202412/21/Blind_monks_examining_an_elephant5057.jpg")
![Gandhi was deeply influenced by Jainism.](/Images/godic/202412/21/Gandhi_Juhu_May19445057.jpg")
![Icon of Adi Sankarācārya, the Advaita philosopher, who criticised the doctrine of anekāntavāda.](/Images/godic/202412/21/Adi_shankara5057.jpg")
Anekāntavāda (Sanskrit:अनेकान्तवाद, "many-sidedness") refers to the principles of pluralism and multiplicity of viewpoints, or vantage points, the notion that reality is perceived differently from diverse points of view, and that no single point of view is the complete truth, yet taken together they comprise the complete truth. It is one of the most important and fundamental doctrines of Jainism.