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CHAPTER I
THE JAIN
RELIGION
The religion which enjoins adoration and worship
of Jinas or the religion which is propounded by Jinas is knows as
the Jain religion. Jina means one who has conquered the internal
enemies and impurities of the soul like attachment (raga) and hatred
(dwesha). He is known as Parmatma (the great soul), Sarvajna
(omniscient), and Savadarshee (omnipotent). Such Jinas have been in
existence from times immemorial. No beginning can be traced for them,
and the Jain Religion has also no beginning. It is a very ancient
religion. It teaches us to become Jina and those who follow it are
called Jains. According to Jain conception the period of time
consists of two cycles, ascending (utsarpinee) and descending (avasarpini).
In each of these two cycles, twenty-four Tirthankaras (Jinas) came
into existence. They are called Tirthankaras because they are to
become the profounder of the sacred order of religion. The last
Tirthankara was Lord Mahavira. Some say that Lord Mahavira was the
founder of Jainism, but this is incorrect. Twenty-three Tirthankaras
existed before Lord Mahavira flourished. In their times Jainism also
flourished and before that also Jainism existed. By their
extraordinary perception and knowledge, Tirthankaras who come from
time to time, bring the fundamental principles into light again.
They preach them, propound them, and also spread them.
The souls of Tirthankaras, from the very moment
of their births, are gifted with superb knowledge and are very
highly meritorious. They renounce their kingly status, cast aside
their riches and worldly pleasures, and adopt asceticism. By the
performance of extremely severe penances, they destroy all sins
accumulated during their past births, burn all karmas, inculcate a
spirit of equanimity towards friends and foes both, attain the
status of Vitaraga i.e, where there is no attachment or hatred
towards anyone, and gain omniscient knowledge.
Those souls (atmas) who have thus become
Parmatmas are of two kinds, Jeevanmukta and Videhmukta. Those who
have destroyed the four Ghati Karmas are called Jeevanmukta.
Jnana-varaniya,
Darsana-varniya, Mohaniya, and Antaraya
Those who have destroyed the four further Karmas, known as Aghati
Karmas are called Videhmukta or Siddha.
Nama,
Gotra, Ayushya, and Vedniya
Jeevanmukta Parmatmas, Arhats, or Arihants impart
their rare and unprecedented teachings to all to realize true
happiness and ultimately attain the eternal bliss of the final
beatitude (Moksha). The principles of Jain religion having been
propounded by Veetraga (souls with no attachment or hatred) and
Sarvajna (Omniscient) are universally wide and based on truth and
for that very reason their universal beneficence can be said to be
established and proved.
Ahimsa Parmo Dharma (nonviolence is the paramount
religion) epitomize the true essence of Jainism. This suggests that
one should bear love towards all living beings, as they are
considered potentially divine in whatever form they exist. All of
them have the capacity to be liberated from the endless cycle of
birth and rebirth and attain eternal bliss. Attainment of the purity
and liberation of the soul are achieved by the means of Right Faith,
the Right Knowledge and the Right Conduct.
Jainism allows full freedom to all human beings
to observe the vows and practice self-discipline. The vows to be
observed by monks and nuns are stricter than those for lay people.
The Jain religion preaches that even the smallest of the small
living beings (jivas) should be given protection and should not be
hurt. It is the teaching of Jainism that all living beings in the
world desire to live. Death is not desired by anyone. All beings
desire happiness, and dislike misery.
There is life (Jiva) even in earth, water, fire,
air, and vegetables. The soul in all worldly living beings is
potentially like the soul in us. There is no difference in the soul
of an ant and that of an elephant, though the very same soul (Atma)
takes the form of an ant as well as that of an elephant.
Contraction and expansion are its characteristic
attributes and due to the bondage of karmas a soul finds itself born
in any one of the eighty-four lack of forms of existence.
If any living being is ill disposed towards us,
even so we must love and give protection to it, whether it is an
animal or man. This is the magnanimity of Jain Religion. What a
height of eminence! What a noble sentiment for universal
welfare!
The Jain Religion preaches the Doctrines of
Ahimsa (nonviolence), Satya (truth), Asteya (nonstealing),
Brahmacharya (celibacy) and Aparigraha (nonattachment).
Anger, pride, deceit, greed, attachment, aversion
all these are our terrible foes. One should be away from them. Avoid
nocturnal meals, look the ground you tread upon lest any injury may
be done to any living being, filter water and other liquids and then
use them.
Do not speak ill of anybody, nor feel jealous.
Avoid strives and quarrels. Maintain mutual good-will and do not do
evil to anybody. Be delighted at the, sight of virtuous. Be desirous
of allaying the sufferings of the unhappy. Be friendly towards all
living beings. By giving pain to others, one will have to experience
bitter fruits. Therefore, one desiring happiness should make others
happy. Inculcate the spirit of equanimity towards others. Be
charitable, try to uplift the poor and the afflicted, observe the
best moral standards in your conduct i.e. make your character an
ideal one, practice austerities to the best of your abilities and
lead a life
It is extremely difficult to get this human
existence. One should therefore shake off idleness and indolence,
instill and practice religion and, thereby, enjoy the endless and
unobstructed happiness of the final beatitude.
Anekantvada:
It
is the doctrine of Jain Philosophy that the ultimate principle is
always logical and there can be no principle devoid of logic. The
Jain mode of explaining everything logically is very charming. One
finds deliberative exhortations on any subject in all its facts, may
they be constructive or obstructive, enlightening or destructive,
consumptive, or nutritive. The main reason for this is the
exquisitely beautiful system of logic and reasoning known as "Syadvad".
The principles of Jain Philosophy are based on the theory of Syadvad.
It is the best means of arriving at the truth or of ascertaining
fundamental principles and it is because of this that the Jain
Philosophy is at the helm of all philosophies and the Jain Religion
is the perfect religion. The word Syadvad is composed of two words `Syat'
and `Vada'. Syat means in a sense or from a certain standpoint (Apeksha)
and Vada points at Principle or School. One thing from one
standpoint or point of view appears to be of a certain type while
from another point of view the same thing appears to be of a
different type. Therefore, to comprehend the full aspect of a thing
one must take into account several points of view. This being the
belief of Syadvad, it is sometimes also known as "Anekantvada"
as well (i.e. that school of thought which takes into account more
than one point of view).
To
understand the true nature of Syadvad, Apekshavada or Anekantvada
one must properly follow the two parables viz, (1) The other
side of the shield, and (2) The story of Blind Men and the Elephant.
Parable-1 Other side of the Shield
On the outskirts of a village a statue was erected in honor of
one of its hero. It had a sword in one hand and a shield in the
other. One side of the shield was covered with gold while the other
one was covered with silver. Two unknown persons came there each
from the opposite direction and began expressing their views. One
said that the statue was beautiful and more so because its shield
was covered with gold. The other said that the shield was not
covered with gold but was with silver. A quarrel ensued between
them. A wise man came from the village by that time and said that
the shield was covered with gold as well as silver. Let both of you
just exchange your places and see the other side of the shield. Both
realized their error and apologized to each other for fighting
falsely.
Parable-2 Blind Men and Elephant
Once a royal retinue was stopping at a village to spend their
afternoon. The village folks came there and amongst them there were
six blind men. All had heard a lot about elephants but none had ever
been able to see one. They requested the care-taker to allow them to
touch the elephant so that they may be able to make out what the
elephant could be like. They were permitted to do so. The first who
came across the ears stated that the elephant was like a tusk
weeding tool (Supada). The other caught hold of the trunk and stated
that the elephant was like a big wooden pestle. The third touched
the tusks and said it was like a big windpipe. The fourth touched
the legs and said it was like a big pillar. The fifth felt the
stomach and said it looked like a water-bag. The sixth had a tail in
his hand and said it appeared to him like a broom. Each thought that
his version was right and others were wrong. The care-taker said
that none of them had ever seen the elephant fully. Each one had
merely seen one limb and from that data each one had given his
surmises about the whole elephant. This was, therefore, the cause of
their quarrel. He explained the whole position, and all the blind
men became silent and departed.
By these parables, one thing certainly becomes clear that the
same thing can be explained from different stand points and any
description of a thing would be true from one stand point but from
this it cannot mean that the other points of view cannot be right.
From the above it follows that to comprehend the real nature of any
thing one must pay due regard to all points of view. Viewing things
in this light, one will have to admit that everything in this world
involves endless points of view and has endless characteristics.
Any one of the standpoints to which one has to resort for
expounding a thing is called Naya (standpoint). In Naya, there is
only partial truth, but in denying other characteristics that
statement could result in falsehood. Suppose there is an elderly
person of 75 years and he has a son aged 45 and the latter has a son
aged 15. Now if the son who is aged 45 is only addressed as
"father," this form of address will result in falsehood
because from the standpoint of his 75 years old father he is also a
son. If the 45-year-old man is only styled a "son," that
too would be wrong because from the standpoint of his 15-year-old
son, he is also a father. Similarly, one person is known as "Arya"
from standpoint of territory; or as "Vaishya" from
standpoint of Verna; or as "Oshwal" from standpoint of his
sub-caste or say "Nagori" from standpoint of the village
or as a son, father, husband or brother from the standpoints
respectively of his father, son, wife or sister. In this way, from
various standpoints, it is possible to have different
characteristics in one and the same thing.
Syadvada if properly understood reveals the true nature of a
thing. What is the nature of this world? How many things have
existed therein? What are their attributes? etc. Perfect solution of
all such quarries is obtained by Syadvada. It is an unprecedented
gift of the Jain Religion to the world. If its secret is properly
understood, all false schools of philosophy would end and the
earnest desires for universal brotherhood will shine to the
fullest extent.
CHAPTER
II
THE
THEORY OF KARMA (LAW OF CAUSATION)
(will continue soon...)
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