Fundamental of Jainism

Author(s): Prithviraj Jain
Publisher: Prithviraj Jain
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/006524/1

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PRIR The Fundamentals of Jainism 45.6 Prithvi Raj Jain, M.A. Shastri Department of Sanskrit & Jaina Studies S.A, JAIN COLLEGE AMBALA CITY. Price Two Annas Jal w .jainelibrary.org

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Published by t. Prof. Prithvi Raj Jain M.A., 3/4822 Chowk Ghanda, Ambala City. June 1956 2000 Copies Printed by:L. Roshan Lal Jain, at the Jain Printing Press, Ambala City. 2560 Povate & Personal Use Only

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The Fundamentals of Jainism I Speculations about man, the universe and the relation between them, and about the goal of human life have been agitating man's mind from times immemorial. This has given rise to many philosophical systems and religious doctrines, one of which systems is known as Jainism. Its followers, nowadays mostly confined to India, hold a prominent place in this country. They have a most ancient culture,1 holy places scattered throughout the country and numerous historical monuments as symbols of their glorious past and evidence of their love of art and sculpture. It is quite wrong to believe, as was held in the greater part of the 19th century, that Jainism was either a break away from the Vedic religion of the ancient Indian Aryans or merely an offshoot of Buddhism.2 The Jains believe their system to be eternal truth, revealed for the benefit of mankind in every era by innumerable Tirthankaras or Jinas (Victors). These are omniscient expounders of the nature of things, preachers of truth and organizers of the Sangha or Holy Order of ascetics, and teachers of the laity, both men and women. Owing to insufficient historical data scholars may 1 See J. P. JAIN: Jainism: The Oldest Living Religion. 2 See HERMANN JACOBI'S Introduction to The Jurna Sutras, Part I, in The Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XXII. 3 A Tirthankara is defined as he "who shows the broad fording-place of virtue, the best of all, reaching which men overcome pains and sorrows."-SAMANTABHADRA; BrihatSvayambhu, Stotra. 9. 2560 Povate & Personal Use Only

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2 hesitate to accept the claim of Jainism to be a most ancient system of thought. But there is irrefutable literary evidence that Jainism was flourishing in India definitely in the eighth century B.c., and even during the Vedic age. According to Dr. S. Radhakrishan, 4 "Jainism prevailed even before. Vardhamana Mahavira] or Parshvanatha. The Yajurveda mentions the names of three Tirthankaras-Rishabha, Ajitanatha and Aristanemi." Buddhist literature contains evidence that Lord Mahavira did not reveal any new truth or found a new system. The four. Vows (Chatur yuma Dharma) preached by Lord Parshavanatha, the last Tirthankara before Lord Mahavira, were in vogue before Lord Buddha attained enlightenment. Lord Mahavira was but one of the promulgators of Jainism; his parents were followers of Lord Parshvanatha.6 Tainism is distinguished from other religions and philosophies by its clear-cut theological and metaphysical doctrines. The main purpose of this article is to acquaint the educated laity with the basic principles of Jainism without going into details. The exposition will be based mostly on original, authoritative works. Unbiased Indological research by European and Indian scholars has revealed in ancient India two dis tinct currents of culture, namely, the Vedic od Brahmanic and the Shramanic. They were so anta gonistic in approach that some ancient scholars regar ded their opposition as eternal, like that between a serpent and a mongoose or a cow and a lion." 4 Indian Philosophy, Vol. I, p. 287. 5 PANDIT SUKHLAL: Nirgrantha Sampradaya, Parts and II. 6 Acharanga Sutra, II. 15, 16, and Kalpa Sutra. 7 PATANJALI : Mahabhashya on the Panini Sulras, 2.4.9. 2500 Polrate & Personal Use Only

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3 The old Shramanic culture included the doctrines accepted by the Jains, the Buddhists, the Sankhyas and the Ajivakas. The Sankhyas have entered the Vedic fold, the Ajivakas are found no more and only Jains and Buddhists may now be regarded as representatives of this culture. Prof. A. N. Upadhye describes it as an indigenous system of thought; call it for convenience the Magadhan religion, which was essentially pessimistic in its worldly outlook, metaphysically dualistic if not pluralistic, animistic and ultra-humane in its ethical tenets, temperamentally ascetic, undoubtedly accepting the dogma of transmigration and the Karma doctrine, owing no racial allegiance to the Vedas and Vedic rites, subscribing to the belief in individual prefection and refusing unhesitatingly to accept a creator". Pandit Sukhlalji, one of the greatest living authorities on Indian religion and philosophy, has very lucidly summed up the basic difference between these cultures: - Brahmanism or the ancient Vedic movement was established on the attitude of inequality while the latter [Shramanism] was based on the attitude of equality. This basic difference is obvious in these three respects, viz, concerning society, concerning the end to be achieved and concerning the outlook towards living creatures." Both Jainism and Buddhism deny the authority of the Vedas, reject priestcraft and the rigidity of the caste system based on birth, deify the human soul, 8 A. N UPADHYE: Pravachana sara, Preface, p. 12. 9 Jaina Dharma Ka Prana. p. 1. 2560 Povate & Personal Use Only

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follow the doctrine of Ahimsa more earnestly than others and stress ethical standards. But other tenets of theirs differ, as do also their literature and their history. Jainism accepts the existence of the eternal, nonmaterial soul which persists through all changes and migrates from one body to another until finally liberated. Buddhism, denying the existence of such a soul, believes in an unbroken series of states, each depending on the condition just preceding it and giving rise to the succeeding one. The Jain and Buddhist concepts of liberation are also different. The tenets of Jainism, moreover, are claimed to have been promulgated by various Jinas at different times, while the Buddhist doctrines were preached for the first time by Lord Buddha himself. Jainism lays stress upon external and internal self-denial, while Lord Buddha was opposed to external austerities, regarding them as useless for purifying the mundane soul. While the two systems have common words like "Jina," "Arhat," etc., used in both for deified souls, the word "Nzugantha"10 (Nirgrantha in Sanskrit and Nigganttha in Pali) meaning "free from all fetters," internal as well as external, is used exclusively for Jain monks and deified persons. Prof. Dalsukh Malvaniya, a well-reputed Jain scholar, holds that in the Upanishads, regarded as the fountainhead of all other Indian philosophical systems, the foundation of Jainism is not found. This fact establishes its independence and originality. The exposition of Karma, of the gunasthanas (stages of spiritual developement), of the order and creation of 10 Acharaga Sutra, 109; Bhagarat:, 9. 6.383. 2500 Polrate & Personal Use Only

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the universe, of atoms, matter, the six substances, etc., found in the canon attributed to Lord Mahavira, goes to prove this system to be the result of the labour of many centuries before his time as well as different from and independent of Upanishadic thought.11 Jainism maintains that truth and untruth have been existing and will continue to exist side by side. Professor Kapadia has rightly said: - According to the Jainas their religion as propounded by their omniscient Tirthankaras is nothing but truth, and hence they are inclined to believe that there was never an age when Jainism did not exist at least in some part of the world and that there will never come an age when it will be completely wiped off from the surface of our globe.12 As to specific literary evidence to justify this claim, we have referred to Lord Arishtanemi being named in the rojurveda (IX. 25). The Adi Parva of the Mahabharata refers to kshap inaka, which meins a Jain monk. The Bhagavata Purana (V. 3-6) gives the life of Lord Rishabha. The word shramana occurs in the Rami yana (I, 14-22) and commentators interpret it as meaning a skysclad Jain Monk. In the Prabhasa Purana Lord Nemi is referred to as a Jina who obtained salvation on Mount Raivata. The Buddhist Shatashastra (5th century of the Christian era) mention's Lord Rishabha as the founder of Jainism. 11 Agama Yuga Ka Anckanta Vada, p. 12. 12 H R KAPADIA : The Jaina Religion and Literature, Vol 1, p. 7. 2000 Polrate & Personal Use Only

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Archaeological proofs of the antiquity of Jainism are also not wanting. In the Orissa inscription of the Emperor Kharavela (160 B.C.) Rishabha 'is mentioned as Agrajina. The Kankali Stupas of Mathura also prove the antiquity of the system. Some scholars maintain that nude figures dicovered at Mohenjo-daro are in the Yoga posture peculiarly Jaina.13 Prof. Pran Nath of the Banaras Hindu University deciphers Seal No. 449 as "Jin sha" (Jin-e-Sarah).14 The foremost peculiarity of Jainism is that it claims no non-human source. Its tenets are based on the knowledge of the Victors, who have attained perfection by their own efforts in this very universe. According to Jainism it is the human soul alone which can reach the highest degree of purification. All souls are possessed of fulness and perfection. Jainism is totally against offering devotion to any being, human or divine, in the hope of gaining bliss, immortality or perfection through the mercy of that being. The full development of the soul cannot be gain i through outside aid. Lord Mahavira emphatically declared, "Man, thou art thine own friend, why wishest thou for a friend beyond thyself?"15. One has to struggle with one's own enemies, having faith in one's own strength. The true victor is expected to deteat his passions and sense cravings and not his fellow beings. Fight with this, your own body; why should you fight with anything else ? 16 Fight with yourself. Why fight with external 13 The Modern Review, August 1932, pp. 155-160. 14 The Indian Historical Quarterly, Vol. VIII, Supplement. p. 18. 15 Acharanga Sutra, 116. 16 Sutrakritanga, 154. 2500 Polrate & Personal Use Only

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1 fves ? He who conquers himself through himself, will obtain happiness,17 The noble, human character of Jainism makes it free from mystic ritual, unholy superstition and the feeling of helplessness or inferiority. That is why the late Virchand Raghavaji Gandhi, 18 the first torchbearer of the message of Jainism to the modern West, declared in one of his speeches: The philosophy of the Jainas is not essentially founded on any practicular writing or external revelation but on the unfoldment of spiritual consciousness, which is the birth-right of every soul. Books, writing and scriptures may illustrate, wholly or in part, this truth, but the ultimate fact remains that no mere words can give full expression to the truths of Jainism, which must be felt and realized within.19 According to Jain metaphysics, this universe is without beginning or end. It has always existed and will continue to exist for ever, undergoing countless changes which are produced simply by the inherent powers of different substances, without any intervention of an eternal God or Creator, i Substance has been defined as possessing some unchanging essential characters (ounas) and other changing modes (paryayas).20 The essential characters of a substance are found permanently in it and it is on account of them that the substance exists, Non-essential or accidental characters of a substance are always subject to succeeding changes. The world, according to Jainism, is changing as 17 Uttaradhyayana, IX. 35. 18 Delegare to the Parliament of Religions, Chicago World's Fair, 1893 19 The Jaina Philosophy, pp. 15-16. 20 Tattvarthadhigama Sutra, 5 38. 2500 Podrate & Personal Use Only

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well as unchanging. Jainism rejects both the theory of impermanence accepted by the Buddhists and the theory of absolute permanence expounded in the Vedanta system. It believes in permanence in change. From one point of view, substance is permanent and from another it is subject to change. That is why (substance or reality is also defined as consisting of three elements : origination, decay and permanence.21 Par ga yas originate and decay but the gunas remain permanent. Consciousness, for example, is regarded as a quality (ouna) of the soul. There cannot be any time when the soul is absolutely devoid of consciousness. But pleasures, pains, etc., are merely various modes (par ya yas) of the soul. They appear and disappear. II Substance is classified in Jainism as follows: -- 1. The Soul or "Jiva." Consciousness is the very essence of the soul. In its pure and natural form the soul is believed to have unlimited knowledge, perception, strength and bliss. The inherent characteristics are the same for all souls. Souls are divided into two classes : emancipated (Mukti) and worldly (bardha or sam sarin). The emancipated souls have purified themselves of the dross of Karmic matter, risen to the higest loka and attained infinite kn owledge and perception and unmixed bliss,1 The worldly souls are in embodied form, clouded by the Karmic matter which gives rise to various pleasures and pains according to its nature and intensity. The Jains believe that all living beings are selfexistent and eternal, found originally in an impure 21 I bid., 5. 30. 1 Panchastikayasamayasara, 28. 2500 Polrate & Personal Use Only

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condition but with the potentiality of purifying themselves. Once they become pure or liberated, no power on earth can stain them. Souls are different from the body and are infinite in number. "The soul is "possessed of knowledge and perception, is immaterial in its pure form, is the doer of all actions, is of the size of the body it occupies at the time, is the enjoyer of the fruits of its actions". 2 "It is tasteless, colourless, odourless, unmanifest and has intelligence as its quality. It is soundless, without any distinguishing mark and without defined configuration":3, 2. Matter or "Pudgala." Matter is regarded as liable to integration and disintegration. Material substances can combine to form larger and larger wholes and can also break up into smaller and smaller parts, ending in anu or atoms. Matter possesses touch, taste, smell and colour. It is divided into atoms and moleculesi (Skandha). Two or more atoms may combine to form bigger molecules. All snbstances except the soul are devoid of consciousness. The atoms, according to Jainism, are fundamentally alike, having the above-mentioned qualities and not different for earthi, water, fire and air, as in the Nyaya system. 3. Space or "Akasha." Substances must have room to exist. That which affords this room is called Akasha. Akasha is of two kinds : Lokakasha (the space containing the world of souls, matter, time, etc.) and Alokakasha (the empty space beyond such a world). 4. Time ny "Kala." The substance responsible for modifications and changes in things is known as 2 Dravya Sangraha, 2. 3 Pravachanasara, 2. 80. 4 Tattvarthadhigama Sutra, 5. 23. 5 Ibid ,5 25. 2500 Polrate & Personal Use Only

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10 time. In its absence nothing could continue to exist or undergo a change. 5. and 6. "Dharma" and "Adha ma." These two substances are a distinguishing feature of the Jain system. They do not mean virtue and sin as these words ordinarily imply. The Jains believe that there must be some substances which help souls and material objects to move or to rest. These are known as Dharma and Adha ma, respectively. Just as water helps a fish in its movement in the river or the shade of a tree helps a passer-by to take rest, so these two substances help worldly objects in their movements and rest. They do not make them move or rest, but simply perform the function of assistance. It is due to them that the division of Lokakasha and Alokakasha is inferred. There would be no end to the upward movement of the liberated soul if these substances did not exist. Jains do not believe in a personal, eternal God who has been from the start all-pervading, pure, omniscient and all-powerful and is also the creator of this universe. In Jainism the deified liberated souls, countless in number, take the place of God. The aim of their devotion is merely to guide and inspire a sincere devotee to follow in their footsteps. The individual soul can attain Godhood by continuous efforts. It is the human soul which, on complete purification from foreign Karmic matter, attains to the highest level of divine perfection. Thus in this system man himself becomes God, depending upon his own help. The following words of Shri Jawaharlal Nehru may well be regarded as a tribute to the Jain point of view concerning God or deified human souls: "It has always seemed to me a much more magni 2560 Povate & Personal Use Only

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ficent and impressive thing that a human being should rise to great heights mentally and spiritually and should then seek to raise othere up, rather than that he shouid be the mouthpiece of a divine or superior power. Some of the f'unders of religions were astonishing individ ials, but all their glory vanishes in my eyes wh-n I cease to think of them as human beings. What impress es me and gives me hope is the growth of mind and spirit of man, and not his being used as an agent to convey a message."?! The theory that there is one personal God with virtues and powers for ill, controlling all the activities of the universe, cannot produce desirable moral qualities in the heart of the worshipper. Aldous Huxley rightly maintains that "belief in a personal moral God had led only too frequently to theoretical dogmatism and practical ntolerance and to the commission in the name of the divinely moral person of every kind of iniquity". The basic feature of the Jain conception of God is that worship is absolutely impersonal and all human souls worthy of Godhood are given reverence with: out distinction of colour, caste or country. The Jaina Navikara Manira; recited by the Jains many times a day, pays homage not to individuals but to five classes of Parameshthins (Supreme Ones.): 1. Arhats, embodied souls which have attained omniscience. 2. eddhas, who have discarded even the body and attained final liberation , 3. Acha: yrs, heads of the monastic order. 4. Upadhyayas, teacher-saints. 5. Sadhus, ordinary ascetics. 6 The Discovery of India. 7 Ends and Means, p. 301. 2500 Polate & Personal Use Only

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12 Every known object has innumerable characters or Dhaninis. Only Arhats or omniscient souls can know an object in all its various aspects Our knowledge is relative and partial. Consequently our judgments about a thing aje true only from a certain standpoint. We cannot claim that an object exists only in the way or form in which we know it. Others may see it from a different angle. It is also a common experience that after the lapse of some time the same object seems to us different. The Jain system believes in realism and holds the existence of all objects to be real. The standpoint from which the Jains explain the existence of the universe is known as 'yalavada or Anehantavada. Critics often say that it is impossible for an object to exist and not to exist at one and the same time. But the object is existent from one point of view and non-existent from another. The object "man" exists as a man but has no existence as an animal. We can prove the existence of the table as a table. but as a bench the table has no exitence. Hence ordinary human beings cannot pass absolute judgment about any object as not all its characters are within the scope of our knowledge. So, according to the Jains, every judgement should be qualified by the word "Syat" or "somehow" or "from a certain point of view," to avoid possible false statement and the causing of misapprehension. On the basis of Syariavada the Jain logicians have developed the Saptabhangina ya or the seven forms of judgment, the details of which can be learned from ancient works as well as from the scholarly writings of some distinguished modern scholars of Jainism.8 8 Syadavadamanjari; Syadavadaratnakara; Saptabhangitarangini; Ashtasahasri; Prameyakamalamartanda; The Jaina Philosaphy of Non-Absolutism: A Critical study of Anekantavada, by SATKARI MOOKER]Ee: etc. 2500 Polrate & Personal Use Only

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13 Syadrivada aims at harmonizing seemingly discordant doctrines and teaches us toleration as well as intellectual freedom. Dr. S. C. Chaterjee and Dr. D. M. Datta have pointed out the beneficial effects of the yadavada theory: : The principle underlying Syadavada makes Jaina thinkers catholic in their cutlook.' They entertain and accept the views of other philosophers as different possible versions of the universe from different points of view. The only thing that the Jainas dislike in other thinkers is their dogmatic claim that they alone are in the right. This claim amounts to the fallacy of exclusive predication (Ekantavadal. Against such a fallacy of philosophical speculation a protest has been raised recently in America by the Neo-realists, who have called it the fallacy of exclusive particularity. But no Western or Eastern philosopher has so earnestly tried to avoid this error in practice as the Jainas have done." Turning to Jain ethics, the summum bonum of the Jain religion is the attainment of salvation or Moksha, which means freedom for ever from an endless circle of births and deaths in the various forms of gods, human beings, animals or infernal beings. This freedom is gained through one's own steady and strenuous striving. The path leading to this salvation consists of right vision or faith, right knowledge and right conduct.10 The bondage of the soul from times immemorial is regarded as real, although the soul is inherently perfect and pure and can remove all obstacles and attain perfect illumination. For this purpose the soul www .. 9 An Introduction to Indian Philosophy, p. 93. 10 Tattrarthadhigama Sytra, I. 1. 2500 Polrate & Personal Use Only

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must willingly subject itself to a series of practical disciplines, rules of conduct and various internal and external penances. The stages of spiritual development, about 14 in number, are called technically gunasthanas. The Jain Tirthankaras were aware of human weaknesses. They knew that the path of renunciation is not easy for all to follow. Hence they preached and propagated two sets of rules of conduct-one for monks and the other for householders. It is repeatedly stressed that both sets of rules are Uhrma, or the Virtuous Path. The path of the householders does not lead to sin. The Jain monks and nuns are required to practise the five great vows in their perfect and highest possible forms: Non-injury, Truthfulness, Nonstealing, Celibacy and Non-attachment to worldly objects. Their life is one of complete selfhelp. They are not to be a burden on society in any way. They always travel on foot, wear the fewest possible clothes (some even discard clothing altogether), have no house or property of their own and are expected to know many languages for the purpose of propagating the message of peace among the people of different nations. They keep to a simple, purely vegetarian diet, just sufficient to keep body and soul together, beg their food from different houses and have neither attachment nor enmity towards any living being. The detailed rules for their conduct are given in the Acharanga utra, the Dashavarkalika, the Uttaradhyayana and the Tattvarthadhigama Sutra etc. Shravakas and Shravikas - male and female householders--are also expected to follow these vows, though in a somewhat modified form. They have to practise some other importart vows also. They take 2500 Polrate & Personal Use Only

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15 no food after sunset. They are enjoined to earn their livelihood in a just manner; to help the needy and the poor, to show reverence to the ascetic order, to study religious scriptures and to be tolerant to other faiths. Monogamy, and that also with the practice of self-restraint, is regarded as the ideal form of marriage. Honest dealings are emphasized. One Acharya has said : Even the virtuous cannot accumulate heaps of wealth by honest earnings. Has any one seen the rivers flooded with pure water ?11 Honest and just living does not lead to hoarding. By it one can earn only enough to make both endsmeet. Jain householders in general have been peace loving, faithful and upright throughout their history. Their rules of conduct can be learned in detail from the Upasakadashanga, the Yogashastra, the Ratnakarandashravakachara, etc. The matter which so far has kept the soul in bondage and has prevented it from attaining final liberation is known as Karma. It is bound up with the soul. Ir is regarded as material and of very subtle form. Every action, every word, every thought, produces, besides its visible effect, an invisible transcendental one which, under certain conditions, materializes in reward or punishment, according to its nature or force. The intellectual, spiritual or material differences found in various beings are understood to be the result of the different individual Karmas. Karma has eight main divisions, each with many subdivisions. The Jain Acharyas have given an exhaustive account of the various Karmas, dealing 11 GUNA-BHADRA: Atmanushasana, 45. 2000 POivate & Personal Use Only

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16 with the problem in minute detail. Readers are referred to the Gomattasara Karma-kanda and the Karmagranthas, etc., for a full account of the problem. Dr. L. Glasenapp considers that "in no other system, perhaps has Karma been taught to be of concrete, realistic, physical nature as here."'12 such From the above brief account the antiquity and independence of Jainism and its salient features can be seen. It has been well written that Jainism is the means to the introduction into this mundane world of a reign of peace, ordered harmony, and reasonable sweetness which are most wanting in these days of rank materialism and uncompromising self-aggrandisement, wherewith this blessed land of Bharata has become surchrged.13 ahiMsA paramo dharmaH P. R. JAIN MA. 12 The Doctrine of Karman in Jain Philosophy, p viii. 13 NAHAR AND GHOSH: Epitome of Jainism, p xvii. 2560 Povate & Personal Use Only

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THIS PAMPHLET The Indian Institute of Culture in Bangalore in collaboration with the Jain Mission Society Bangalore arranged a unique function in April 1954 to celebrate Lord Mahavira's birth day. The function continued for a week and many Jaina scholars from different parts of India participated in it. Lectures were delivered and papers were read on different aspects of Jainism. I could not personally attend the function but sent a paper on the Fundamentals of Jainism which was considered and read on 17th April under the chairmanship of Dr. H. L. Jain M.A., D. Litt., now the Director of Prakrita. Vidyapeetha Vaishali. The paper was published in the well known journal of Bombay 'The Aryan Path' in two instalments in January February 1955. It was reprinted in Modern Review next month, There was a pressing demand particularly in Panjab for a brief pamphlet to acquint the educated laity with the basic broad principles of Jainism. Jaina Muni Prakash Vijaya Ji gave a patient hearing to my paper while at Ambala City and earnestly wished its publication in the form of a booklet. So it is bring published on the sacred day of the death anniversary of late Jainacharya .shri : Atmaramilj, a renowned scholar of the 19th century who left no stone unturned to diffuse the message of Jainism in the different couutries of the world. I owe a debt of gratitude to Jaina Mission Society, The Aryan *Path and the reputed scholars of Jainism whose writings I have freely used and quoted. My thanks are also due to muni Prakash Vijaya Ji, Principal G.C. Jain M.Sc. and L. Babu Ram Jain Pleader of Zira who always inspire me for such activities, Ambala City P. R jain M.A. June 16, 1956. 2500 Podrate & Personal Use Only

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WI. Jar 3116 sley 'Eternal Dharma of Ahimsa' The Arhats and Bhagawats of the past, present and future, all say thus, speak thus, declare thus, explain thus : all breathing, existing, living sentient creatures should not be slain, nor treated with violence, nor abused, nor tormented, nor driven away. This is the pure, unchangeable, eternal law, which the wise ones, who understand the world, have declared. - Lord Mahavira : Acharanga. Jain rat onal uso