Ḍūb and Pār: Ecological consciousness and Jain ethics in Virendra Jain’s fiction

Abstract

This article examines the ecological consciousness articulated in Virendra Jain’s novels Ḍūb (‘Submergence’) and Pār (‘The Other Side’), reading them through the lens of Jain ethical philosophy. Set against the backdrop of the Rajghat Dam project on the Betwa River, the two novels depict the social displacement and environmental devastation caused by large-scale development projects in rural India. Jain’s fiction gives a voice to marginalized local realities while offering a critique of the exploitation of nature by humans, and can be can fruitfully read through the lens of ecocriticism and environmental humanities more broadly. Moreover, the ecological sensibility that permeates his work resonates deeply with Jain philosophical principles—particularly ahiṃsā (non-violence), aparigraha (non-possession or restraint), parasparopagraho jīvānām (the mutual interdependence of all living beings), and pratikramaṇa (self-introspection). Rather than offering a didactic exposition of doctrine, Jain dramatizes the existential and environmental consequences of a life detached from these ethical foundations. His novels thus constitute a powerful literary meditation on ecological ethics, exposing the moral and material costs of modernity’s neglect of interspecies interconnectedness.