Answer

Yes, Jainism can accept the observable idea that living beings adapt and change according to conditions, but Jain Dharma does not accept a purely materialistic explanation of life.

So, if “natural selection” means:

• Living beings with suitable traits survive better in certain environments,
• Forms of life change over time,
• Body, strength, lifespan, and conditions vary due to causes,

then this does not necessarily contradict Jain thought.

But if “natural selection” is taken to mean:

• Life is only physical matter,
• There is no soul,
• Consciousness is produced only by the body,
• Karma has no role in birth and embodiment,

then Jainism does not agree.

Explanation

In Jain Dharma, every living being has a jiva — a soul. The body is not the real self. A soul takes different bodies according to its karma.

Jainism teaches that living beings exist in many forms, such as:

• One-sensed beings
• Two-sensed beings
• Three-sensed beings
• Four-sensed beings
• Five-sensed beings

This shows that Jain tradition recognizes a vast diversity of life and different levels of bodily development. However, this diversity is understood through the framework of jiva, karma, birth, rebirth, and the natural order of the universe.

Natural selection may explain how physical bodies survive in worldly conditions, but Jainism explains why a soul is born into a particular body through karma.

Spiritual Understanding

From the Jain view, the most important question is not only “How did this body develop?” but:

• Who is experiencing life through this body?
• What karmas caused this birth?
• How can the soul become free from karma?

Jainism sees worldly existence as beginningless. Souls wander through different forms of life due to karma. Liberation does not happen by biological progress, but by destroying karmas through right faith, right knowledge, and right conduct.

Takeaway

Natural selection can be accepted as a limited explanation of bodily adaptation, but Jainism does not reduce life to biology. In Jain Dharma, the soul is eternal, karma determines embodiment, and the highest goal is moksha — liberation from birth and death.