Harmless Soul

SR No.: 001196
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: W J Johnson, Dayanand Bhargav
Publisher: Motilal Banarasidas
Publication Year: 1995
Total Pages: 372
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Philosophy, & Principle
File Size: 20 MB

Page 190

· 176 Harmless Souls
iii) Himsā and 'compassion' Kundakunda's internalisation and assimilation of himsā and its equivalents to aśuddhopayoga has consequences for the whole nexus of Jaina doctrine, consequences which are illustrated throughout this part of my work. Here, by way of concluding this section, I shall point to one specific doctrinal implication, interesting both in itself and because it illustrates the distance Kundakunda has travelled from some of the positions advocated in the earliest extant texts.
As we have seen (at 3:20, above), it is purity of mind, characterised by an attitude of indifference towards all possessions, that distinguishes the true monk. The action of such a śramaņa is free from delusion (moha) and so does not incur bondage (see Pravacanasāra 2:24-30); moreover, such action coincides exactly with the monastic rules. Mental disturbance both engenders and is engendered by himsā / parigraha, but it is the mental component, the underlying attitude, which is karmically significant, not the harming act itself. This is illustrated by Pravacanasāra 3:20c (an obviously anti-Svetāmbara gāthā, only present in Jayasena's recension), which reads:
If he accepts a piece of clothing, gourd-bowl and anything else, necessarily there is involved harm unto living beings, and there is disturbance in his mind. 115
This gāthā can be interpreted in two ways, both of which, in the context, are probably intended: first, it is implied that the taking of life causes a disturbance in the mind of the śramana, and that it is that disturbance which is to be avoided rather than the taking of life per se, which is karmically neutral (see above). Second, and conversely, the very act of violence reflects an already existing mental
115 Upadhye's trans. Vikkheva (see text) = Sk. viksepa, 'distraction', 'inattention'. See JPP pp. 38-41 on the major differences between Digambaras and Śvetāmbaras in matters of clothing, almsbowls, etc.