Book Title: Jain Journal 1997 01
Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/520125/1

JAIN EDUCATION INTERNATIONAL FOR PRIVATE AND PERSONAL USE ONLY
Page #1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ISSN 0021-4043 A QUARTERLY ON JAINOLOGY VOL. XXXI No. 3 JANUARY 1997 Jain JOUrnal ||jain bhvn|| JAIN BHAWAN PUBLICATION Vale Personal use only Page #2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Philosophy of Sallekhana Dr Rajjan Kumar Jains Under the Rastrakutas of Deccan Ramvallabh Somani Jainism and Unification Thought Suzuko Ohira Book Review Contents L.A. Babb-Absent Lord by Sushil Jain Books on Jainism 75 88 188 80 85 98 101 Page #3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Book Review Lawrence A. Babb. Absent Lord: Ascetics and Kings in a Jain Ritual Culture. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996. xi+244) pp. illus. "What does it mean to worship beings that one believes are completely indifferent to, and entirely beyond the reach of, any form of worship whatsoever? What are the implications of such a relationship with sacred beings for the religious life of a community?" (Introduction, p. 1). Both of these questions are significant and intriguing even for a Jain like myself who, belonging to the Sthanakavasi tradition, has never had the privilege of observing murtipujak rituals until I came abroad. My first and most profound experience of devotion to a Jaina deity was that of Lord Bahubali's mahamastikabhiseka at Sravanabelgola in 1994 when million of litres of liquid were poured over the august statue to give its periodic ritual bath, a theme which appears on the cover of Babb's book, except that here the Indras are pouring liquids on the head of a Jina (meaning Victor; also called Tirthankara) who sits undisturbed and unmoved in a meditative position, completely oblivious to the act of ablution being performed (cf. p. 33). The Tirthankaras have no concern for the material world or its inhabitants. They are completely removed from the material activity of humans, and even gods. The Siddha Loka, their abode, is entirely free of attachment. Their devotees may pray, shower perfumed liquid, fragrant flower petals or precious jewels, or apply sandal-wood paste to their images. The Jinas cannot be moved or approached for boon or bounty, but the faithful still pray to them. This is the theme of Babb's book: the Lord is absent but the devotees see his presence in a variety of rituals-astaparkari puja, abhiseka, agra puja, caitya vandanam, panca kalyana puja, etc.-which they perform daily or on special occasions. "[T]he critical question in the study of Jainism", asks Babb, is "[w]hat place can there be for such a radically world-rejecting vision of the world in the lives of ordinary men and women?" (p. 9), a riddle requiring an answer which the author successfully provides. To this end, Babb has written a beautiful book on the nature and meaning of Jaina ritual. The author is no stranger to Jaina studies, Page #4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ BOOK REVIEW 99 having authored several excellent articles on Jains (parts of this book's text are based on previously published articles). Absent Lord is Babb's first full-length monograph on Jainism, though he has authored two books on Hinduism (The Divine Hierarchy: Popular Hinduism in Central India, 1975, and Redemptive Encounters: Three Modern Styles in the Hindu Tradition, 1986). The book is divided into five chapters, excluding his 22-page long "Introduction" wherein he lays out his theory of ritual culture and the role of ritual in pan-Indian religions. The first chapter begins with the life-stories of Tirthankaras (Victors) as told in the rituals, and ends with the description of life-style(s) of Jain monks and nuns who exemplify Jainism's ascetic values. The next chapter takes the enquiry in a different direction. Instead of emphasising the ascetics, the discussion moves to "the role of the worshipper, as applied to the object of worship" (pp. 64-101). Chapter three focuses on author's locale of research (Jaipur), the specific community of observation being the Svetambara Jains of the Khartara Gaccha. Chapter four talks about the warrior-kings: their legends and transformations, the kings who gave up the material world for the spiritual one, an interesting part being, the "Jainizing" of martial Rajput clans (p. 165). In the final chapter, "Giving and Giving Up", a subject first explored by Babb in a 1988 article, the author wraps up the discussion of Jaina rituals by placing them in a pan-Indian context. Comparing and contrasting the Jain ritual of "giving and giving up" with the rituals of Vaisnavas or Pustimargis and others, Babb successfully points out the uniqueness of Jaina ritual- the transactional absence of the object of worship. Thus the worship of the Tirthankaras is not the same as the worship of Siva or Krsna with whom devotees are able to transact. Jaina ritual culture, we are reminded, is shaped by "the Jain emphasis on asceticism" which "decisively separates worshipper from worshipped in the final analysis" (p. 179). The most important aspect of Jaina ritual is its reflexive nature. Since the worshipped (the five supreme deities - panca paramesthis; the Tirthankaras and arihants, being the first ones in Jain namaskar mantar) are "absent" even though they seem to be present in the form of an image in a temple or home shrine, "they cannot be engaged in any transaction of any kind with those who worship them" (p. 84). Therefore, "whatever ritual is done is done by the human ritual actor to himself" (p. 94). Page #5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ JAIN JOURNAL: Vol-XXXI, No. 3 January 1997 Drawing upon an existing body of literature and on his own personal research in the field, Babb summarizes the diversity amongst Jains (pp. 4-5), touches on "Jain Basics" (pp. 5-6), and raises the issue of Jain identity vis-a-vis the wider Indian community, stating that "there is no clear boundary between Jain and Hindu traditions" (p. 21). 100 In Absent Lord, Babb manages the difficult task of explaining a vast and complicated ritual culture of Jains with both passion and insight. With a perfect pace, in well-crafted text, and with the help of well-chosen photographs, the author successfully renders the Jains predicament-praying to an entity that has no concern for the worshipper-without sacrificing any details. The result is a wonderful book full of clarity and sympathy towards the Jains that he studied and befriended, who in turn opened their heart and hearth to an outsider (now to become an insider). The picture of Jains that emerges from Absent Lord is far from what has been depicted early in this century: people devoid of Grace and heart. Though the text is usually full of descriptive details, once in a while the author leaves the reader asking for further information. For instance, on page 33, the author says, "One spring season Parsvanath saw a picture of Neminath's wedding party, and his mind turned to thoughts of world renunciation." It is not explained what was in that picture that turned Parsvanatha's mind to renunciation. A Jain, familiar with the lives of Tirthankaras, in this case Neminatha and Parsvanatha, may know that it was the possible butchering of hundreds of animals for his wedding feast that swayed Neminatha, a cousin of Lord Krsna, to renounce the world, but others would have benefited if such an explanation had been offered. All in all, it is an excellent book, except perhaps for a solitary typographical error (knobs for knots, para 3, page 152). With Absent Lord, Babb joins ranks with Banks (Organizing Jainism in India and England, 1992), and Laidlaw (Riches and Renunciation: Religion, Economy and Society among the Jains, 1995) whose studies have shed a very important and different light on Jains, much different from what was previously known from the works of Mrs. Sinclair (The Heart of Jainism, 1915), or Vilas A. Sangave (Jaina Community: A Social Survey, rev. ed. 1980). Sushil Jain Page #6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Books on Jainism B.K. Tiwary-History of Jainism in Bihar, The Academic Press, Patel Nagar, Gurgaon, 122 001, 1996 pp. 242. Price Rs. 300/(Contents : Introduction, Life and Work of Mahavira, Jainism before the Mauryas, Jainism in Mauryan Period, Jainism before the Guptas, Jainism in Gupta period, The Last phase, Conclusion, Bibliography and Index] N.L. Jain (Rewa) (ed) - Glossary of Jain Terms, Jain International, Ahmedabad, 1995, (no pagination mark), Price Rs. 40/Mhis glossary is divided into three columns. In the first the Jain terms in Roman script with usual diacritical marks, and in the second its Devanagari counterpart, in the third column, the English equivalent is given). N.R. Waradpande-New Light on the Date of the Rgveda, Bhasha Pracharini Sabha, Nagpur, 1994, pp. 31+2. N.R. Waradpande - The Rgvedic Soma, Sanskrit Bhasha Pracharini Sabha, Nagpur, 1995, pp. viii+48, Price Rs. 50/B.K. Khadabari - Studies in Jainology, Prakrit Literature and Languages, Prakrit Bharati Academy, Jaipur, 1997, pp. 444, price Rs. 300/-. Siddha-Hema-Sabdanusasanam (Vol I)-ed by Ksamabhadrasurisvara, text with Madhyama-vitti and avacuri of Hemacandra, Ranjan jaya Jain Pustakalaya, Malwada. Jalore, Rajasthan, 343 039. price Rs. 100/Nyayasamgraha, text edited with Hindi translation and explanation by Nandighosavijaya, Sri Hemacandracarya Navama JanmaSatabdi Smrti Samskara Siksana Nidhi, Ahmedabad, 1997. Price Rs. 250/[It is a collection of grammatical Paribhasa of Hemacandra, also known as Nyaya. Most of the Paribhasa's are similar to Panini's.] Pearls of Jaina Wisdom-by Dulichand Jain, Parshvanath Vidyapeeth, Varanasi, and Research Foundation for Jainology, Madras, 1997, price Rs. 120.00. [It is a selection of inspiring Aphorisms from the Jaina Scriptures. The "Pearls of Jaina Wisdom" is a good contribution to the field of Jainistic studies. It aims at various aspects of Jainism. It has rendered an invaluable service not only to the cause of Jainism, but also to the intellectual empire of the Indian people in general." "This book will serve as a thesaurus of Jainism where the choicest and interesting passages from the treasure-house of the Jaina Agama texts are conglomerated." 07 Page #7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 102 JAIN JOURNAL : Vol-XXXI, No. 3 January 1997 P. S. Jain - Praksta Apabhramsa aur Samskrti Samghi Prakashan, Jaipur, 1995, pp. 116; price Rs. 150/-. Devendra Kr Shastri - Apabhramsa Bhasa Sahitya ki Sodha-pravittiya, Bharatiya Jnanapitha Prakasana, New Delhi, 2nd edn. 1996, pp. 338, price Rs. 130/U.C. Jain and S. Sisoriya- Praktta-vyakarana Agama, Ahimsa-samata evam Praksta Samsthana, Udaipur, 1997, pp. 160, price Rs. 70/[It contains the sutras and vrttis of Hemacandra's Prakrit Grammar without the details of his vittis) Vitaragastava of Hemacandracarya, text edited with Hindi translation in verse by Vijayasilacandra suri, Sri Hemacandracarya Navama Janma-satabdi Smrti Samskara Siksananidhi, Ahmedabad, 1996, pp. 64, price Rs. 60/-. Candralekha-Vijayaprakaranam, a five-act Prakrit Play edited by Muni Pradyumna Vijayagani, Ahmedabad, 1995, price Rs. 3.50. Acaranga(1st Srutaskandha lst chapter) - ed by K.R. Chandra Jain Vidya Vikasa Fund, Ahmedabad, 1997, price Rs. 150/[It contains an elaborate Introduction, analysis of the language of Ardhamagadhi and the text of the first chapter of the first Srutaskandha. This is the latest attempt of the restoration of the original language of the Acaranga.) Viyahapannatti by Jozef Deleu, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1996, pp. 357, price Rs. 325/K.V. Mardia-The Scientific Foundations of Jainism, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1996, pp. xxii + 142, price Rs. 200/-. S. Chaudhuri - index internationalis indicus 1993, current micro writings on indic and buddhic studies esp. in Calcutta journals. I author catalogue, centre for asian documentation. PunthiPustak, Calcutta, 1996, price Rs. 250/-. (It is an excellent index of authors whose articles are published in Calcutta Journals. For Indological researches this Bibliographical index is a "must". Nirgrantha (Vol-I) -ed by M.A. Dhaky and Jitendra Shah, Sharadaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre, "Darshan" Opp. Ranakpur Society, Shahibag, Ahmedabad, price Rs. 150/-. [It is an excellent Journal in three languages-English, Gujarati and Hindi-in 1/4 Demy size. The Vol-I was published in 1995. It indicates the latest research on Indological studies, particulary in the field of Prakrit and Jainism. Page #8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PHILOSOPHY OF SALLEKHANA DR RAJJAN KUMAR In this world there are several forms of self-mortification. Sallekhana is also a kind of self-mortification adopted in Jainism and is designated by several names as Santhara, Samadhi-marana, Sakamamarana, Pandita-marana, Sanyasa-marana etc. The Jainas believe that it is a vow which is adopted for attaining the spiritual height. It is a process by which one's life is ended for the sake of religion. People other than the Jainas declare it as nothing but suicide, but it is firmly rejected by the Jainas. According to them Sallekhana is not suicide. It is a Right Conduct and needs a serious consideration with Right Knowledge and Right Faith. Meaning of Sallekhana Samadhi-marana or Sallekhana is an ascetic termination of physical body adopted at the end of life, when it is unavoidable. When there are situations which render the observance of vows impossible, one should decide to terminate his body and accept voluntary death, which is called Sallekhana or Samadhi-marana. The Ratnakarandakasravakacara by Samantabhadra, a classical text, deals with the different aspects of Sallekhana. Sallekhana is a voluntary termination of one's own body for the sake of religion and spirituality at a time when normal life is not easy to continue in a proper order. The so-called adverse situations are: calamity, severe famine, senelity, incurable painful disease, and there is no remedy to escape from that situation.1 At that time one should culminate complete abstinence from food and drink, subjugation of all passions and abandonment of all worldly attachments, and shuffle off his mortal coil voluntarily. On the basis of situations rendered to the vow it is subdivided into two categories2: a) General and b) Time-bound. General sallekhana is 1. Ratnakarandakasravakacara, Trans. Pt. Panna Lal Basant, Virseva Mandir Trust, Delhi 1972, 5/1. Aurapaccakkhana, (Dasa Painna), Agamodaya Granthodhara Samiti, Bombay 1927, verse 11. Upasakadhyayana, Ed. Kailash Candra Shastri, Bharatiya Jnanapith Publication, Varanasi 1964, sutra 89. 2. Uttaradhyayanasutra, Ed. Sadhvi Candana, Virayatan Publications, Agra, 1972, 30/12. Page #9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 76 JAIN JOURNAL : Vol-XXXI, No. 3 January 1997 adopted when normal process of life is not possible to maintain day to day work properly due to old age, incurable disease and some other situations. Under these conditions it is taken for whole life and is known as Yavatakalika. The time-bound santhara is taken in that situation from which there is no escape. When death is unavoidable, fall of religion is sure. Under these circumstances one may decide to give up his physical body to save religion and if these situations are not over and one does not die, then one continues his normal life for a certain period. This type of Santhara is known as Sagari Santhara. Karma as an obstruction The concept of karma is the central theme of Indian religions and in Jainism it is defined in a very specific manner. Here it is not only accepted as an action, but also as a material form, and accounts its very cause which effects on all sorts of living beings. It is a sort of energy which obstructs to operate the infinite power, bliss etc. of a self. In Jainism karma is accounted as a material substance associated with soul and is defined from four points of view as follows3: 1. according to the manner of their effect (prakrti); 2. according to the duration of their effect (sthiti) 3. according to the intensity of their effect (rasa or anubhava) 4. according to their quantity or number (pradesa) Karmas are the direct result of the mental, verbal and physical activities of the mundane soul. By nature it is of eight types4: i. Jnanavarana-k-knowledge obscuring; ii. darsanavarana-k-cognition obscuring; iii. vedaniya-k-joy and grief feeling; iv. mohaniya-k-belief and conduct obstruction; v. ayus-k-determinants of life duration; vi. nama-k-determinants of various factors of individuality; vii. gotra-k-determinants of family surroundings; and Bhattaparinna (Painnasuttaim, Pt-I), Ed. Muni Punyavijay, Mahavir Jaina Vidyalaya, Bombay 1984, verse 10. Bhagavati-Aradhana, Ed. Kailash Candra Shastri, Jaina Samskrti Samraksaka Samgha, Sholapur 1978, verse 64. Samavao, Ed. Acarya Tulsi, Jain Vishva Bharati, Ladnun 1984, 4/5. Tattvarthasutra, Comm. Pt. Sukhlal Sanghvi, P.V. Research Institute, Varanasi 1993 (reprint), 8/4. Karmagrantha, Pt-I, Comm. Muni Mishri Lal, Marudhar Kesari Sahitya Prakashan Samiti, Jodhpur-Byavar 1980, 1/2. 4. Uttaradhyayanasutra, Sadhvi Candana, 33/1-3. Tattvarthasutra, Sanghavi, 8/5. Page #10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KUMAR: PHILOSOPHY OF SALLEKHANA viii. antaraya-k-hindering the capability of soul of resolution and enjoyment. The eight karmas are subdivided into two groups5: a. Destructive or obstructive (Ghatiya karmas) and b. Non-destructive karmas (Aghatiya karmas). Ghatiya karmas consist of 4 types: jnanavarana, darsanavarana, mohaniya and antaraya, but the aghatiya has also 4 karmas viz. ayus, nama, gotra and vedaniya. Ghatiya karmas obstruct the spiritual progress of the soul and act as brakes in achieving success in different fields of human activities. They are the cause of ignorance, indecisiveness, infatuation and imbalance in thought, speech and action. Aghatiya karmas determine and regulate the duration of life and matters allied to it: nature of personality, such as height, body, size, colour etc.; status of family, race etc; and pleasures, pains, sorrows etc. in one's life on earth. In that way atoms of karmas obstruct not to play the soul to his real game, and conclude as main obstruction to achieve supreme goal. Philosophy of Sallekhana Philosophy inserted in the concept of sallekhana is to inhibit the influx of new karmas and to annihilate the old karmas associated in the self from time immemorial. They veil the soul in such a way that one cannot use his natural and infinite power to remove them. Jainism believes that the natural form of a self can be obtained, but it takes time and needs some appropriate means to discard the veil of karmas of the self. Sallekhana is the means through which one can obtain that lost quality. 77 Passion in different forms deforms the real nature of soul." Soul becomes self and self changes into mundane being. It possesses the senses of sentientity and attachment with different worldly things like relatives, wealth, land, comforts, enjoyments etc. He indulges in attaining more and more material things, if he succeeds he becomes happy. The adoptation becomes his nature and it grows higher and higher, his desires are not fulfilled by the worldly things, because it is infinite like space.' Ultimately he becomes unsatisfied and tries to catch all things by unfair means. 5. Karmagrantha, Pt-I, Muni Mishri Lal, p.15. 6. Sthanangasutra, Ed. Madhukara Muni, Byavara 1981, 5/2. Dasavaikalika, Ed. Madhukara Muni, Byavara 1993, 8/36-39. Tattvarthasutra, Sanghavi, 8/1. 7. Uttaradhyayanasutra, Sadhvi Candana, 9/48. Page #11 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ JAIN JOURNAL: Vol-XXXI, No. 3 January 1997 The concept of sallekhana gives us an insight into the self to attack on the fundamental cause of ties i.e. passions. A sense of dettachment is deemed necessary for this purpose and the self tries to keep himself dettached from the worldly things. He thinks that one should keep his mind free from all passions and infirmities; one should have no love for his body and no attachment towards any of the things, mobile or immobile; one should have no affection or attachment towards his relatives or have no hatred towards his enemy; one must conquer all afflications; one should spend his life period in practicing meditation and gradual changing of foods from solid to liquid. 78 The self subdues all passions and takes little food and continues to observe like that: one should neither yearn for life nor for death; one should be indifferent to both and continue his contemplation; one should keep free from all internal bodily attachments and strive to acquire absolute purity with complete equanimity of mind; one should continue to be engrossed in his penance; one should shut out all evil thoughts; if one is suffering from some deadly or sensuous disease one should endure all the pangs with equanimity and tranquility without exhibiting any signs of suffering. The above consideration shows the philosophical dimensions incorporating within the concept of sallekhana. The forthcoming lines will clarify the highest philosophy underlying within it-"when life is coming to an end by natural cause or by some calamity or attack from an enemy, it is better and proper to adopt a vow of voluntary death by fasting and meditation in fulfilment of the religious vows and practices". It means in sallekhana the main inspiration is not the sense of termination of physical body, but to maintain and save of religious and spiritual consciousness. This type of conscience is a matter of appreciation and not a fact of criticism. Seven categories and Sallekhana The goal of human endeavour is directed towards liberation from various kinds of karmas. The principles which indicate the process of liberation are seven (or nine)9: Jiva, Ajiva, Asrava, Bandha, Samvara, Nirjara, Moksa, (Papa and Punya). Jiva and Ajiva, the sentient and non-sentient categories, are the only fundamental substances among the seven or nine categories prescribed by the Jainas. The rest of the five or seven substances are the different stages of combination or association of both the fundamentals. 8. Sagara Dharmamrta, Ed. Mohan Lal Shastri, Jabalpur Vir Nirvan 2484, 8/5. Tattvarthasutra, Sanghavi, 1/4 and see commentary on page 5. 9. Page #12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KUMAR: PHILOSOPHY OF SALLEKHANA Asravais the movement of karmic materials towards jiva (soul), while bandha (bondage) denotes the stage of actual bondage of the soul with the karmic matter. Before commencing the process of liberation it is necessary that there should be a stoppage of the influx of new karmas and this is called samwara or the stoppage of fresh ties of karmas. The process of shedding of old karmas is designated as the principle of nirjara. The final result after all the above process is called moksa (liberation). Papa and Punya are known as auspicious and inauspicious deeds of a living being and are included within the concept of Asrava. Sallekhana is a process which checks the influx of incoming new karmas towards the self and also emaciates the old karmas overlayered on the self. Thus it includes samvara and nirjara both. It is adopted by a living being for the dissociation of non-sentient karmic matter and attaining liberation. Liberation is the dissociation of soul from karmas. Without bondage we cannot understand the fact of liberation and it is defined as association of karmas with soul. All the auspicious means adopted by Jiva is to cast off ties. Sallekhana also signifies the same meaning. Thus we can say that the process of sallekhana is inserted at all stages of the seven categories. 79 The concept of seven categories possesses an aim to introduce the people about reality and also puts forth a path of liberation, and helps the people to cross the ocean of the world. There are several means for this crossing, sallekhana is one of them. It is considered as a good ship and helps the seeker to cross over the stream of sea of the world. Page #13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ JAINS UNDER THE RASTRAKUTAS OF DECCAN RAMVALLABH SOMANI The Rastrakutas had ruled from 7th century to the 10th century AD in the Deccan. They remained very powerful and made several incursions on the northern India. The Digambara Jains had developed their activities under them. We find several names of Jain writers and Acaryas whose works have been regarded as the important sources for the cultural, political and socio-economic history of the tract. Rastrakuta Govinda Raja I founded the kingdom after conquering the Calukyas. His son Dantidurga was very powerful. He invaded northern India and had captured Avanti, where he performed Hiranyagarbha-yajna.' The Sanjan-copper-plate of Amoghavarsa I describes the details of it. It also mentions that Pratihara king was made a door keeper there. But it seems to be an exaggerated account.? Jain monk Akalanka was contemporary to Dantidurga and his successor Kssnaraja I. His works named ' Laghiya-straya' Tattvartha-Raja-Varttika Astasati. Siddhi-Viniscaya Pramana-Sangraha and others give details of the philosophical studies. Although, he remained silent about his biographical details and did not mention anything about the contemporary rulers, but the Katha-kosa gives some details about his life. It mentions that he was the son of Purusottama, a minister of some Subhatunga-Ruler. The word Subhatunga was an appellation of Krsna-Raja I of Rastrakuta branch. K.B. Pathak who published a good paper on Jain monk Akalanka believes that the latter was contemporary to Krsnaraja 1.3 The Mallisena-Prasasti of Sravana-Belagola mentions him as a prestigious Pandit of the court of Sahasatunga. But it is not a contemporary work. It also has an exaggerated account stating that there was no other grandeur ruler like Krsna Raja on earth and no other eminent Pandit like Akalanka.It seems that the above passage was drafted on the basis of the rumours prevailing in the masses. Similarly the Akalanka-Stotra contains some verses which were said peen spoken by him in the court of some ruler. But it seemed to have been interpolated by adding his name in certain verses. These 1. Epigraphia India Vol. XVIII pp. 235-257/Vol. VI p. 102. 2. Ibid. 3. Journal Bombay Branch of Royal Asiatic Society Vol. XXIII p. 226; Indian Antiquary Vol. XII p. 215. Jain Lekha Samgraha Vol. II & (Ins. No. 207 and others). But those are not contemporary records. Page #14 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOMANI : JAINS UNDER THE RASTRAKUTAS OF DECCAN 81 were drafted by some other writers. However, it is true that Akalanka remained much popular poet, whose works are still highly venerated. Virasena was a notable Acarya. He remained alive up to the time of Amoghavarsa I. He had drafted the Dhavala-and Jaya-dhavala commentaries. The Dhavala was completed on Kartika-Sudi 13 Saka Era 738. At that time Jagtunga had left the kingdom and Boddanarai was then in power. Some scholars consider the date as of VikramaEra. But it is totally incorrect. We know the Vikrama-Era was popular in the Rajasthan, M.P. and some other parts of Northern India. It was not popular in the Deccan. The colophon certainly has the words "Vikrama Rayamhi", but it does not mention the name of era. It is interesting to note that the era was not known as Vikrama at that time. It was then known as Malava-Era. It was denominated as Vikrama Era, at a much later date. Its earlier date is known as VE 898 of Dholpur inscription of Chand-Mahasena. It is noted that the astrological reckoning of the above date comes almost similar for Vikram-and Saka-Eras. Jyoti Prasad Jain has coherently advocated that the era used on the above passage was of Vikrama Era. But as stated above its popularity in the Deccan and its nomenclature as Vikrama Era were not known. Acarya Jinasena, who had completed the Mahapurana's commentary was contemporary to Amoghavarsa I. It is mentioned in the colophon of Uttara-Purana that the above ruler considered it a matter of pious discourse to put his head under Jinasenacarya.The Prasnottara-Ratnamala was composed by Amoghavarsa I. In its invocatory passage he had quoted "Pranipatya-Vardhamanasya". Although it is still a matter of controversy that Amoghavarsa I was the renowned follower of Jainism, but he was much inclined towards it. Mahaviracarya, who had composed Ganita-Sara, mentioned about Amoghavarsa I that the latter had attempted to please the masses and performed the meritorious deeds for them, which are proved from various epigraphical and other evidences. Leaving the administration in the hands of his yuvaraja and ministers he often preferred to spend his life in peaceful atmosphere. The verse 47 of Sanjan plate also corroborates' it. The Prasnottara-Ratnamala also mentions that he was deeply interested in Jainism. His father Govindaraja III also favoured the Jains and granted a town Jala Mangala to the Yapaniya Jaina Sangha. It was granted on the request of Ganga-Vamsi-Cakiraja. 5. The Dhavala 1-1-1-(Intro pp. 44-45) verses 6 to 9. 6. R.C. Agrawal's Muni-Hazarimal Smrti Grantha pp. 661. 7. The colophon of Uttara-purana verses 8-9. 8. E.I. Vol. XVIII pp. 235-257. Page #15 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ JAIN JOURNAL: Vol-XXXI, No. 3 January 1997 The Harivamsa-Purana is another important epic dealing with the life of Tirthankaras. It was drafted by Jinasena. He was different from Jinsenacarya, the author of the Mahapurana. He belonged to the PunnataSanghaand was a disciple of Kartikeya and grand disciple of Jinasenacarya. In this way he was different from Jinasenacarya, the writer of the Mahapurana, who was the disciple of Virsena and grand disciple of Aryanandi. The Punnata was the ancient name of Karnataka territory. 82 The Harivamsa-Purana was composed at Badhaman and Dostatika areas of Gujarat-State in Saka Era 705. The author has given the details of the rulers of all directions.9 At the time when the work was completed, King Vallabha was the ruler of the South. Indrayudha in the north, Vatsaraja Pratihara and the ruler of Avanti in the east and Jayavarsa in the west ruling over Saurastra. The Rastrakuta Govinda II and Dhruva Nirupama both had adopted the epithet "Srivallabha". But it seems that here it was used for Dhruva-Nirupama and not for Govindaraja II, as the latter's reign was of short duration. Except the Dhuliya-copper-plate of Saka Era 701 no other grant of his reign was known. He seemed to have removed by Dhruva-Nirupama and had forcibly acquired the throne. Therefore, we may take Dhruva-Nirupama as the ruler of Deccan in Saka-Era 705. Indrayudha was the ruler of north. Some scholars have erred in considering Indrayudha as the brother of Govinda III, who after some times ruled over Gujarat. In fact the Harivamsa-Purana was composed in Gujarat, therefore this part was not in the north. The name of Vatsaraja Pratihara in the east creates some difficultires. The colophon of the Kuvalayamala composed at Jalore in Saka-Era 700, mentions him as the ruler of the place. He did not make any attempt to conquer the Malawa. We do not find any mention of his victories in the said province. Dashrath Sharma and some other scholars have identified two rulers 10 named Vatsaraja and the ruler of Avanti as separate. Jinasena obviously has mentioned Avanti and Vatsaraja separately. Actually the Pratiharas did not rule over Malawa prior to the time of Nagabhata II. Similarly Jaya Varaha was the ruler of Saurastra. A copper plate of Saka Era 836 was noticed from haddata mentioning the name of Dharani Varaha, who was the subordinate chief of the Pratiharas. Jaya-Varaha might be his ancestor.11 Jinasena had also quoted some names of Jain Pandits, Acaryas and others, as Samantabhadra, Siddhasena Devanandi, Vajra Suri, Mahasena, Ravisena Jatasingha Nandi, Santisena, Kumarsena, 9. This verse has been much discussed by many scholars from the long time. 10. Dashrath Sharma- Raj through the Ages. 11. Altekar, Rastrakutas and their Times pp. 401; AP Madan. The History of Rastrakutas pp. 54-47. Page #16 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOMANI : JAINS UNDER THE RASTRAKUTAS OF DECCAN 83 Virasena and Jinasena. The name of " Vardhamana-Purana", an important epic, is also montioned, but no MS. of it is now available. It remained a much popular work. If we take the dates of Dhavala and Jayadhavala as of Vikram-Era, the probable dates of the compositio would be 780 A.D. At that time even Dhruva Nirupama had not come into power before 782 A.D. The Harivamsa-Purana has also quoted Virasenacarya, but no work of Dhavalawas referred. He seemed to be some other Pandit or the above work was completed at a later date. Jinasenacarya completed the Jayadhavala in Saka-Era 759 (-837AD), during the reign of Amoghavarsa I. Govindaraja III had invaded the northern India. His copper plates and inscriptions metion it. He passed through Gujarat and captured some part of it over to his brother Indraraja. He then proceeded towards Chittor and captured Hatundi(Godawar), where also a Rathor state was established. At Chittor, he captured the place and handed it over to Dharani-Varaha Maurya or his predecessor. 12 He also captured Dhanop (Bhilwara), where also a Rastrakuta kingdom was founded. It seems that Govindaraja III could not proceed beyond Puskar and was humbled to move towards the south. He captured Malawa compelling its ruler to owe his allegiance to him. Puspadanta was a good poet of Prakrit and Apabhramsa. His Mahapurana is very famous. He was contemporary to Krsnaraja III who came to the throne in 939 AD had ruled up to 967 AD. He was succeeded by his brother Khottigadeva in 967 AD. During the latter's region Manyakheta was badly plundered in 972 AD by the Parmars of Malawa. Bharat was the minister of Krsnaraja III. He was the patron of Puspadanta also. He belonged to the family of Kandella gotra. He belonged to a rich family and enjoyed the post of state minister. But later he had become poor. Puspadanta was from a Brahmin family. He was a very poor man having no house and property. Perhaps, he was not married. Formenly he was in the services of Viraraja or Bhairava and composed some poems also there. But instead of granting good rewards, he was badly insulted. He came to Manyakheta and met Bharata, the minister of Krsnaraja. On the later's request he completed Mahapurana. It is a good work dealing with the political socio-economic and other details. 13 His another work is the Yasodharcarita, which contains many details, as to how the Manyakheta was badly plundered by the Paramars of Malawa and the entire kingdom faced great hardships. The corpses, bones and other parts of the bodies of humans were scattering. The colophon of the above work says that in such a 12. History of Mewar by the Author pp. 47. 13. Puspadantas Mahapurana (Bharatiya'jnanapitha edition) Introduction. Page #17 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ JAIN JOURNAL: Vol-XXXI, No. 3 January 1997 disturbed condition, Nanna had offered him food and other objects. The poet had wished the long life of the above person.14 84 Gunasena was the pupil of Jinasena. It is due to the death of Jinasena, Gunasena had compiled the remaining 5 parts of Adipurana and a full work of Uttara-Puranas. It was completed in Saka-Era 820 at Bankapur under the patronage of Lohaditya, a fuedatory of Akalavarsa (Krsnaraja II). These works were composed in good Sanskrit. 15 Pamp had composed Adipurana-campu and Vikramarjuna-vijaya. He has mentioned the details of Calukya Arikesari in the later historical work. It also mentions that during the reign of Govindaraja III, his feudatories had revolted. He had successfully repulsed their attacks. The Yasastilaka-campu and Nitivakyamrta were two important Jain works composed by Somdeva Suri. The Yasastilaka-campu was composed in Saka-Era 881 Caitra Sukla 13 at Gangadhara, in the Capital of Ganga ruler Boddig, the son of Calukya Arikesari. It is also mentioned that the forces of Rastrakutas were collected outside the city Manyakheta for going on expeditions against the ruler of Pandya, Sinhal, Chola, Cheri and others. This information is very interesting. 16 Somdeva was the Acarya of Devasangha of Digambara Jains. His teacher Nemideva was the pupil of Yasodeva. The latter was the brother of Mahendradeva. Somadeva remained a much famous writer. The text of Yasastilaka-campu is of high standard and can be compared with the Kadambari and Tilak-Manjari. His other work Niti-vakyamrta was composed after the Yasastilaka-campu. The Paramars of Malawa had invaded Manyakheta and badly plundered the town. It is referred to Dhanapala's Paiya-lacchi-namamala that in VE 1029 (972 AD) the Malawa any successfully carried depredations and badly defeated the Rastrakutas." Its deplorable conditions are mentioned by Puspadanta in his Yasodhara-carita. The Jain literary sources are very rich in furnishing the details of administrative set-up. The Adipuranna, Uttarpuranaand Nitivakyamrta have got ample details. The Nitivakyamrtais a good treatise having the details of administrative and cultural affairs. The state was having several ministers. The Talaraksaand Astadasa-Pradhana were also appointed. The Mandapikas were existing for collecting the taxes. The PattaBandhan was done at the time of coronation of the ruler and Yuvaraja. 14. Jasahara-cariu 4/21. 15. The colophon of Uttara-Purana verse 15. 16. Sundarlal Shastri - Yasastilaka-campu p. 481. 17. Dhanapala- Paiya-lacchi-nama-mala verse 198. Page #18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ JAINISM AND UNIFICATION THOUGHT SUZUKO OHIRA The world has nowadays become a global village, and dissimilarities we used to have among different races, societies, cultures and thinking methods are becoming less and less, because of the rapid progress made in the field of data processing and communication techniques in particular. All this is leading us now at the end of the twentieth century, to have a new vision of man and his history, and create a new paradigm free from the thought patterns held in the past. All thoughts that have occurred in times past are man's common heritage. Then, each system of thought, that has made some contribution to a specific culture, must have also performed its specific mission within the common heritage of human beings as a whole. This is also true in the field of religion. Jainas are today participating actively in international religious conferences, such as the Assembly of the World's Religions and the International Religious Federation for World Peace (the 1st conference was held in New Delhi in 1993), that represent a world-wide movement of religious unification. The Jaina population is at present no more than 0.5% in India, which is almost unrecognizable in the total population of the world. Nevertheless, its long religious tradition that has survived up till now in India must have had its own mission relative to man and his history in general. With this view in mind, the author would like to make a new appraisal of the position of Jainism, by placing it in the macrocosmic view of the history of mankind. In performing this task, it is essential for us to have a standard textbook or books representing the true history of man and the world, upon the basis of which Jainism is to be reviewed. We are fortunately in possession of these books. One is the Divine Principle (which is often called by name of the Unification Principle) revealed by Rev. Sun Myung Moon who professed himself to be the Messiah, Lord of the Second Advent (the First being Jesus Christ). It is also called the Completed Testament. Unification thought is a new thought system, founded upon the basis of the Divine Principle, in the hope that it will help harmonize all thoughts which occurred in history, whether they are in the fields of cultural science, social science or pure science, so that all can work Page #19 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ JAIN JOURNAL: Vol-XXXI, No. 3 January 1997 together to fulfill God's providence. It has its own ontology, epistemology, logic, axiology, ethics, theory of original human nature, theory of history, theory of education, theory of art, and theory of methodology. For details, the readers are directed to refer to the Unification Thought, pub. by the Unification Thought Institute, N.Y., 1973. 86 This paper is based on Explaining Unification Thought (pub. by the Unification Thought Institute, N.Y., 1981), and the Divine Principle (pub. by the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, N.Y., 1977). We will introduce in the following a brief view of history offered in these texts first, then work on a review of Jainism made in the context of the Unification view of history. The Unification View of History History started with the fall of man, and therefore man has had to suffer its consequence of miseries. All three Testaments, i.e. Old, New and Completed, agree on this point. According to the Completed Testament, God as the spiritual Parent, created Adam and Eve in his image, so that they would become His substantial objects of love, and multiply His children on earth to have happy families, societies and the world. This ideal world is the kingdom of heaven on earth. As the chart (quoted from The Divine Principle, p.137, which is slightly modified with some additional information) below shows, man was expected to go through a period of growth in three stages under archangel Lucifer's care, while keeping the promise with God not to eat the fruits of the Tree of Life and Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden; that is, not to commit fornication. This growth period of man is called the period of God's indirect dominion, in which God does not interfare with the decisions of man. Beyond this, that is, after perfecting their individual personalities, Adam and Eve were to be placed under God's direct dominion, and marry to have His children. At the final level of the growth stage, Eve disobeyed Him, and committed fornication with Lucifer in spirit, then with Adam in flesh. This sin is known as original sin, from which all other types of sin and man's fallen natures are derived. Lucifer then dominated not only Adam's family, but also the entire world through procreation, and stood as Satan or the False God against the True God. All men have thus become the children of the Devil, inheriting the Satanic lineage. Ever since, we have been confined in this Satanic world. All things created by God did not fall. Man after the fall was cut off from God's lineage, and thereby fell below the level of all things into the hellish realm of non-principle, as shown on the chart. Page #20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ period of growth OHIRA: JAINISM AND UNIFICATION THOUGHT Now it was God's turn to restore His fallen children from Satan's hands. Since He is substanceless, God needs a physical body to perform His tasks on earth. This is the Messiah, His son, whose duties are to indemnify sins committed by human ancestors and their descendants, Perfected World of Creation perfection growth GARDEN OF EDEN PERFECT WORLD formation Tree of Life (Adam) Tree of Knowledge (Eve) Adam & Eve -6 days Logos God flaming sword Adam & Eve Abraham 2000 Adam & Eve Direct Dominion 2000 WORLD OF COMPLETED RESTORATION Indirect Dominion= 1600 Woah-years Jesus -2000--- True Prarents 2000 Tree of Life (Adam) Tree of Knowledge (Eve) Divine Spirit Life Spirit Lord of Second Advent Form Spirit 'px|duuop ment Agement Age New Testa Testa Old Testament Age 2000 Levels of all things Below the level of all things Hell (realm of non-principle) line of perfection True son's position Adopted son's position Servant's position The World of Creation and the Providence of Restoration Through the Substantial Development of the World. 87 Servant of servants' position and restore for Him fallen man and the world as well as the primary purpose of His creation. God then had to establish among men the foundations for receiving the Messiah prior to sending him. This was extremely difficult, because Satan, sensing God's intention, immediately came to obstruct Him by destroying His plans. From this viewpoint, history is said to be nothing but trials and errors in establishing among men the foundations for receiving the Messiah. God first approached Adam's sons, Cain and Abel. Satan, knowing His intention, immediately obstructed His plan by causing Cain to kill Abel. God's providence was interrupted here, and the descendants of Cain and Adam's other children multiplied on the earth. The relationship Page #21 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ JAIN JOURNAL: Vol-XXXI, No. 3 January 1997 between God and man remained unrestored, that is, man had to suffer in the hellish realm of non-principle below the level of all things. 88 At Noah's time, God saw the earth filled with violence, and regretted that He had created man. He performed the flood judgement, and destroyed all human beings other than Noah's family. Noath stood very loyal to God, but his second son, Ham in Abel's position, failed in fulfilling his responsibility. God again was interrupted here in carrying out his dispensation. From the viewpoint of the relationship between God and man, man could stand here in the position of servant of servants,' it is said, thanks to Noah's loyalty to God. Thus, here man was able to ascend to the level of all things. It was, then, around 2000 B.C. when God blessed Abraham, father of the Israelites. To make a long story short, three generations of Abraham's family, i.e. Abraham, his son Isaac and grandson Jacob, successfully built up, for the first time, the family level foundations for receiving the Messiah. The Messiah was, then, to come. However, the Satanic world had already multiplied to form a large domain on the national level, against which Abraham's family level domain was too small to contend with. God, therefore, had to wait another 2000 years to send His son Jesus to the Israelites. From the viewpoint of God's relation to man, man ascended to the position of God's servant2 in this age of the Old Testament. Jesus came as the son of God, free from original sin. Nevertheless, he was crucified, and could not perform his duty of freeing people on earth. It was after his resurrection that he came to stand as the spiritual Messiah and freed his followers in spirit. Christians could, therefore, ascend to the position of God's adopted son. Their original sin inherited through the flesh is, however, not yet liquidated. The Lord of the Second Advent must, therefore, come to restore the whole of mankind (i.e. on earth and in the spirit world), as God's true children in his own lineage. To sum up, man at the beginning fell below the level of all things, that is the level of the hellish realm of non-principle. Then, he had to ascend therefrom, step by step, restoring first the position of servant of servants on the level of all things, next restoring the position of God's servant in the age of Old Testament (i.e. the elder son's position in the history of religion), then restoring the position of God's adopted son in the age of New Testament (i.e. the second son's position in the history of religion), and finally restoring the position of God's true son in the age of the Lord of the Second Advent (i.e. the third son's position Genesis 9:25 1. 2. Leviticus 25:55 Page #22 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ OHIRA: JAINISM AND UNIFICATION THOUGHT in the history of religion). The restoration of man's fall ends here, thenceforth he is to start his history anew. This is a brief account of the central history of the chosen people, to whom God was to send the Messiah. The history of the rest of the world is referred to as the peripheral history. The chosen people were responsible for fulfilling God's dispensation of establishing the Messiah, in which they repeatedly failed. We should note that religion begins after Abraham in the central history, while it is traceable already in the Old Stone Age caves in the peripheral history. 89 The course of history that started with man's fall is, in other words, the development of God's providence in restoring man and the world, and restoring the original purpose of creation. God performs His providence with the Messiah in cooperation with man. And man's failure in fulfilling his part of responsibility has caused the continuous miseries of human society and the prolongation of the process of salvation. Since man has taken the historical course that was not originally planned by God, there are two kinds of laws at work in our history, i.e. the law of creation and the law of restoration. Under the first kind, there are laws of (1) correlativity, (2) give-and-take action, (3) domination of the center, (4) completion through three stages, (5) period of the number six, and (6) responsibility. Under the second kind, there are likewise laws of (1) indemnity, (2) separation, (3) restoration of the number four, (4) conditioned providence, (5) false preceding the true, (6) horizontal reappearance of the vertical, and (7) synchronous period. Struggles occur in the Last Days, according to the Unification view of history, between the good side and evil side, which are not necessarily violent ones, but will be the struggle of ideology. Values will also collapse in the Last Days, and thereby great social disorder will result. The present day disorder and chaos occurring in all levels of the family, society, nation and the world-illicit sex, family disruption, juvenile delinquency, social decline, and so on-are nothing but the reflection of the state at the time of man's Fall, where we have returned now in the Last Days. Unification Thought proposes that we should return to God, for all this confusion of today arose from our loss of God. We have to understand Him correctly. He will then guide us according to His original plan and order. This concept is called Godism. It is also called Head-wing Thought, because it is capable of embracing both sides of ideologies, i.e. left-wing and right-wing. Finally, Unification Thought Page #23 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ JAIN JOURNAL: Vol-XXXI, No. 3 January 1997 assumes that this sinful history will come to an end, and an ideal world will begin to be created. 90 Jainism Reviewed in the Context of the Unification View of History The age around the 6-5th centuries B.C., when Mahavira was active, happened to be the age of Upanisads. It was the time when Vedic and non-Vedic philosophical or religious thoughts were deeply stimulated and flourished, in search of the nature of Brahman, Atman and the world for the purpose of attaining the way of salvation. It was an epochmaking period in ancient India when she was blessed with numerious Upanisadic sages and sophists, including Mahavira, Buddha and other sramanas such as Carvaka, Sanjaya, Gosala and Pakuda. A similar phenomenon occurred in Greece during the 6-5th centuries B.C., when many nature philosophers made their appearance, including Thales, Heraclitus, Empedocles and Democritus, along with Socrates and Plato, who were followed by Aristotle in the 4th century B.C. China was not an exception, for Confucius and Lao-tze lived probably in the 6-5th centuries B.C., who were then followed by Mo-tzu, Mencius, Chuangtzu and many others in the succeeding centuries called the golden age of philosophy. We should not also forget that Zoroasther was active in the 7-6th centuries B.C. in Persia. K. Jaspers calls this period the axial era. But why did this phenomenon of world-wide spiritual awakeni ag take place during this particular period? This question has remained a mystery until the Unification Principle (the Divine Principle) offered an answer for it. According to it, God called Socrates in Greece, Buddha in India, and Confucious in China six centuries prior to sending Jesus Christ on earth. He called these spiritual leaders in the major domains of ancient civilization, so that they would lay spiritual foundations for receiving the Messiah coming at a later time. The Messiah was, had he not been put to the cross, expected to spread His gospel in the language of thoughts flourishing in these domains of civilization, and restore man and the world all at once. Why did this happen, then, in the 6th century B.C., but not in the other centuries? It is said in Genesis that God created man on the sixth day. The 'sixth day' means here the 'sixth' period. This period of six applies also to the providence of re-creation, and God had to start a new providence six centuries prior to sending the Messiah. This law is called 'the law of the period of the number six'. A similar providence Page #24 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ OHIRA: JAINISM AND UNIFICATION THOUGHT was carried out in preparation for the Second Coming of the Messiah. The Renaissance and the Reformation, which began around the 14th century and were in full swing by the 16th century, marked the beginning of this preparation.3 Mahavira thus made his appearance in India in the 6-5th centuries B.C., responding to the then providential movement, that was by itself a part of the world-wide spiritual movement occurring under God's dispensation. Buddha's date as well as Mahavira's date are not definite yet. Neither Confucious' date nor Lao-tze's date are definitely certain. As a matter of fact, we don't need to be too rigid nor too nervous about the dates of these sages in this context. A matter of cardinal importance here is that God called a number of sages in the Oriental semisphere, so that they would start their philosophical and spiritual movements during these several centuries prior to the coming of Christ. Thus occurred the philosophical movements in Greece initiated by many sophists and philosophers including Socrates; likewise occurred the spiritual movements in India set by the Upanisadic sages and sophists including Mahavira and Buddha; and also occurred the philosophical movements in China started by a number of thinkers including Confucius. Socrates, Buddha and Confucius are, therefore, considered as the nuclei of the then world-wide spiritual movements led by God's providence. 91 Salvation sought after by the sages of Upanisad as well as Mahavira and Buddha was freedom from the cycle of rebirth by way of rooting out the entire karmic particles. It means freedom from the causes of sufferings, and the task of its eradication is vested in everybody as his own responsibility. The Aryan invaders from Europe brought to India the idea of God or Brahman with them; however, they did not bring in the concepts of man's fall and original sin, which are the primary causes of man's sufferings. Satan thus successfully worked out his way. According to the Unification Principle, salvation is to restore fallen man and the world to God from Satan's hands, thereby restoring the original purpose of God's creation. In accomplishing this task, all human beings on earth and in the spirit world have to, first of all, have their Satanic lineage converted to God's lineage. Then, Lucifer, now standing as Satan, has to be subdued and placed back in his former position as archangel. Finally, the present Satanic world has 3. Explaining Unification Thought, p. 304. 4. The author was informed by Prof. K. Bruhn about H. Bechert and L.S. Cousins' recent views on Buddha's date, that is placed around 400 B.C. Page #25 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ JAIN JOURNAL: Vol-XXXI, No. 3 January 1997 to disappear, and the original order of the world has to be regained. The task of salvation is thus to be performed by God and his son, the Messiah, in cooperation with man, and the former is assumed to be shouldering 95% of the total responsibilities against 5% of the latter. These figures, which are no more than symbolical, indicate that salvation is impossible to be attained without having God's grace. 92 Ancient Indians were totally unaware of this concept of salvation, and they came upon the doctrines of karma and transmigration, to explain the causes of suffering on earth and offer the method of freedom therefrom. Satan is, no doubt, afraid of the Messiah, for he has the power to subdue him. Satan is, however, not at all worried about the doctrines of karma and rebirth, for they are incapable of taking man and the world away from him. Instead, these doctrines can allow man to be enclosed forever inside the cycle of metempsychosis, thereby safeguarding the Satanic world as it stands. This is the state of being that Satan welcomes most. Uplifting the banner of ahimsa, Jainas as well as Buddhists attacked Brahmins who used to sacrifice animals. The practice of animal sacrifice must have been brought into India by the Aryan invaders along with the idea of God. Animal sacrifice is an important ceremony in the monotheistic tradition. An animal is killed here and blood is shed. It symbolizes the liquidation of sin, as in the case of Jewish circumcision. Sacrificing a lamb symbolizes sacrificing the Messiah, through which man is supposed to be brought nearer to God. As aforementioned, all things created by God did not fall, therefore they stand in a position purer and closer to God than man. They have thus become the offerings to God, through which man is allowed to come closer to Him. Non-Vedic Indians including Jainas and Buddhists were totally unaware of this concept of animal sacrifice. 'Ahimsa is the way of salvation.' Reforming Parsva's way of teaching, Mahavira taught this in a loose framework of the doctrines of karma and rebirth. Later, when the eradication of karmic particles came to be established as the sole method of freedom from rebirth in the fabulous edifice of the karma theory, the role of ahimsa weighed therein came to be reduced to minimal. Nevertheless, Mahavira's teaching that ahimsa is the way of salvation has remained in essence unchanged until today, as shown in the content of the vigorous asceticism of Jaina ascetics. There is nothing more precious than life for any living being, whether it be a man or a worm. 'Love of life' is the supreme value underlying the highest truth, highest goodness and highest beauty. Page #26 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ OHIRA JAINISM AND UNIFICATION THOUGHT Life is very dear to any jiva-for it is irreplaceable and weighs heavier, as it is said, than the earth. Jaina idealism of ahimsa as such must have come from their sound judgement on love for all things' lives. Jainism inherited the primitive animistic view held in the preMahavira period, that the world is full of invisible jivas. Jainas then came up with a peculiar notion that an earth-jiva's life, an elephant's life and a man's life are all equal in value. This idea might have come from the doctrines of karma and rebirth. The doctrine of karma is based on the view of life that jiva or atman is primarily pure and identical. However, when this pure jiva gets bound with karmic particles, he starts to transmigrate by way of taking various forms of life, such as an earth-jiva, elephant, man and so on, in accordance with the law of transmigration. All jivas in all forms are, therefore, in essence equivalent in terms of life. 93 A present-day animist like Prof. Keiji Iwata of Kyoto University, Japan (author of "Philosophy of the Cosmos" and "Anthropology of Grass. Trees. Worms. Fish". etc.) supports an idea that the cosmos is the space for life, and all living beings including man are equivalent in terms of life. All things in nature, that exist in totally different dimension from that of man, are beautifully maintaining their own system of order, diversity, autonomy, cooperation, coexistence, cyclic circulation, perpetuation and so on. Their system as such is, in fact, functioning better than that of man. Some of today's ecologists have, then, arrived at a conclusion that man is no better than a part of nature, and his intelligence stands no higher position than a relative level. Now they are appealing to us, "We should re-evaluate the idealism of love of life and love of all things." Man's DNA and that of all things are almost alike, hence all forms of life stand equal in value. Today's animists and ecologists have thus come up on the side of the Jainas. Man was created by God, says Unification Principle, as the object of His love, and all things were created for the sake of man. Man came on earth, in other words, to fulfill the purpose of developing and perfecting His love, that has ever been lying in the state of unfathomable potency. All things are under man's domination, so that he can consume them in order to perform the purpose of God's creation. Consequently, man's life is more precious than the lives of all things in terms of the purpose of His creation. They are not equal in value. All things are created to die on earth, while man is to transmigrate, after his death, to the spirit world and enjoy his eternal life centered around God. According to Rev. Moon, all things are happy to be consumed by man, had he not fallen, and to become a part of his flesh, for they can Page #27 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ JAIN JOURNAL: Vol-XXXI, No. 3 January 1997 meet God therein. However, man fell, and has dominated all things wrongly ever since. It is therefore not surprising to read in Romans 8:19, "For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God", because man, having been controlled by Satan, has dominated over them wrongly and misued them to the point that they are now on the verge of destruction. 94 The way of ahimsa practised by Mahavira is known to us from the Acaranga I. He went alone stark naked, without using cold water, not bathing, not cleaning his teeth, not using fire and not scratching his body. He slept little, was always vigilant, and wandered around alone carefully without speaking much. He bore all the hardships, ate coarse food, often fasted, and practised meditation. The practice of ahimsa demonstrated by Mahavira here as the way for liberation is, needless to say, extremely rigorous asceticism in serving all things. Mahavira did not say, "Sacrifice yourself, and work for all things." Nevertheless, his noble path for arambha-parigraha which has been in essence handed down by Jaina ascetics to the present-day, reveals that he attended on all things so that their precious lives would not be hurt. 'Man serves all things.' This position of man corresponds to that of the servant of servants, which stands for the period of Noah, before entering the Old Testament age. This is the path man is destined to go through in restoring his position through indemnity, and Jainism obviously represents this position in human history. It means that this position of servant of servants represented by Jainism was bound to appear before arriving at the age of the Old Testament that stood at the elder son's position in the central history of religion. Primitive religion of nature worship appearing in the ancient world, including Vedic nature worship as well as ancient Greek and Chinese nature worship, as long as they are not polluted by shamanism and magic, must be sharing the same position of man serving all things. A servant of servants can not see his Lord directly. He can see Him indirectly through the mediation of God's servants or all things, upon whom he attends. It thus seems that Jainism made its appearance to shoulder the responsibility of taking part of this position in the providential history. Satan works through man's flesh. If his mind is strong enough to subdue his flesh, he can easily return to God. Man's flesh is unfortunately stronger than his mind. The flesh controls the mind as it wants, says Rev. Moon, because the false power of love bound with Satan at the time of the fall was stronger than the power of conscience held at that time.5 God, therefore, established religion all over 5. "Family", Kogensha, Tokyo, no. 319, Aug. 1995, pp. 24-25. Page #28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ OHIRA: JAINISM AND UNIFICATION THOUGHT the world in order to weaken the power of flesh and strengthen the power of mind, so that man can return to God by subjugating his flesh. This is, according to him, the main purpose of religion. Religion thus compels us to perform all that our flesh dislikes to do, for instance, "Fast!", "Offer services!", "Make sacrifices!", and even "Become an offering!" An offering means sacrificing one's own life to God. So it is said in St. Luke 17:33, "Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it." Then, the puritan way of life led by Jaina ascetics has truly been the course of rigorous life worthy of God's praise. Rev. Tomohisa Ota made a comparative study of the three Testaments, i.e. Old, New and Completed, in his small book entitled, "The Bible and the Unification Principle" (publ. by Kowa, Tokyo, 1995). While comparing the views on 'salvation' and the 'messiah' expressed in these three works, he came to find a law of continuity working through them, taking the form of thesis-antithesis-synthesis. However, when a comparison is made between the two of them, i.e. between the Old Testament and the New Testament, or between the New Testament and the Completed Testament, we see much discontinuity. The Completed Testament has a key to unify the whole, comments Rev. Ota, otherwise there remains a state of mutual alienation and exclusion. We would like to adopt his method in reviewing the position of Jainism, after we make a brief exposition of his account summarized in the following chart. Salvation Messiah Old T Law Deed By self-reliance Political emancipator Functional New T Gospel Faith By grace Redeemer Completed T Word Attendance By both Ontological Exemplary Redemptive Both Regarding salvation, Judaists insist that righteousness which leads one to salvation is attainable by deed through abiding in law, while 6. It is Prof. Bruhn's thought that the 'puritanism' of Jainism stands in the central position of the major contributions made by Jainas towards the solution of world's problems. We shall be greately indebted to him, if Prof. 95 Both Both Page #29 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 96 JAIN JOURNAL : Vol-XXXI, No. 3 January 1997 Christians maintain that it is attainable by having faith in Jesus. According to Judaism, self-reliance alone leads one to arrive at salvation, whereas it is reached solely by God's grace according to Christianity. Unificationists offer a view that salvation, which is attainable by attending to the Messiah through abiding in His word, comes from God's grace together with man's self-reliance. As regards the Messiah, Moses is a political emancipator as well as the coming Messiah in Judaism, in which he is vested with a functional meaning. For Christians, however, Jesus Christ is a redeemer, free from original sin; thus he is vested by them with an ontological meaning. Unificationists consider that the Messiah is both, a redeemer and a political emancipator coming in the position of Adam. Finally, the Messiah is an exemplary leader of people for Judaists, whereas he is, for Christians, a redemptive personage who extends His salvation to everyone all one-sidedly. Unificationists maintain that he has both characteristics. Now, let us examine the position of Jainism in the context of this chart. Jainas say that man arrives at liberation by abiding in their rigorous law, through ascetic performance of ahimsa, solely relying on his own capacity. The Messiah-like personage for Jainas is a Tirthankara, who is, like an Arhat of Hinayana Buddhism, an exemplary figure in reaching the level of perfection ahead of us. The Twenty-four Tirthankaras are expected to appear periodically in each boundless cosmic period, and Mahavira is regarded as the Twenty-fourth Tirthankara of the present cosmic period. Tirthankaraship is thus vested by Jainas with a functional meaning. He is not, however, a political emancipator nor a redeemer. He is a religious leader who teaches us, in the most exemplary manner, how to get out of the cycle of rebirth by exerting his efforts. This position of Jainism must be likewise shared by Hinayana Buddhism, while Mahayana Buddhism and Vaisnavism must be sharing the same ground with Christianity. A brief examination made above discloses that Jainism and Judaism stand in a comparable position in the context of providential history, despite the fact that they belong to totally different systems of religion in time and space. It means that they shouldered comparable responsibilities in their own historical places, and have made each of Bruhn could some day develop this idea into a systematic representation of Jaina ethics. Taking this opportunity, I would like to express my sincere thankfulness to Prof. Bruhn, who kindly read this paper and supplied me with valuable information, comments and opinions. Page #30 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ OHIRA : JAINISM AND UNIFICATION THOUGHT 97 their own contributions to God for His providence of restoring man and the world. We have already understood that Jainism also stands at the position of servant of servants, in performing its responsibility of serving all things. Having thus occupied two earlier positions in the providential history, Jainas have made until today considerable contributions to mankind and to God, who has been all the time with them and guiding them as their own Parent, even though Jainas have not recognized Him. This is a brief review of Jainism made in the context of the Unification view of history, further studies of which remain to be pursued in the future. Since it is the first trial of its kind, and because it could not afford more time, there remain a lot of deficiencies to be improved later. Nevertheless, this historical-cum-comparative method of research, that must have appeared impossible and absurd at first glance, reveals clearly where Jainism stands in human history and the history of religion. It also offers some new light and deeper insight in comprehending the Jaina concept of ahimsa involving the love of all things' lives, animal sacrifice, the nature of the doctrines of karma and rebirth, the meaning of asceticism, and so on. This method of study is made here possible, because we are in possession of the Unification Principle and Unification Thought. The former delivers the true history of mankind that has been sealed by Satan until today, and the latter offers its content from the viewpoint of the unification of thoughts. It would be a great pleasure if such research will be encouraged further, so that Jainism as a common heritage of man will be more properly appraised in the context of human history. 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