Source Book in Jaina Philosophy

SR No.: 001263
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Devendramuni
Publisher: Tarak Guru Jain Granthalay
Publication Year: 1983
Total Pages: 590
Language: English
Classification: Book_English & Philosophy
File Size: 10 MB

Page 58

Lokavāda (Cosmology)
We see the vast universe before us. Naturally some fundamental questions regarding the orgin and the nature of the universe arise. We ask ourselves the questions: When did the universe originate? Would there be the end of the universe? What are its ultimate principles? Many similar questions may be asked; and answers to these questions have varied according to the philosophical perdilections of different schools of thought. It would be necessary to study these questions in the light of modern researches in philosophy and science.
There were discussions on these questions during Mahāvira's period. Gautama, the Buddha, considered these questions un-answerable, (avyākṛta)1 but Śramaņa Bhagavan Mahāvira has attempted to answer these questions satisfactorily.
Bhagavan Mahāvīra had a disciple called Arya Roha. He asked Mahāvīra, "Bhagavān! Of the Loka and Aloka, is Aloka first and then came Loka?" Mahavira said to Arya Roha thus: Loka and Aloka were both there and will continue to be there. They are beginningless (anādi) and endless (ananta). Both of them are eternal (śāśvata) and none of them is later or earlier.2
1 Tathāgata Buddha said that the following ten questions are unanswerable--(1) Is the world eternal ? (2) Is it non-eternal ? (3) Has it an end? (4) Is it endless? (5) Are the soul and body one? (6) Are they different ? (7) Does the Tathāgata exist after death? (3) Does he not exist after death? (9) Does he exist and not exist after death? (10) Does he neither exist nor not-exist after death ?-Majjhimanikāya, cūlamāluňkya sutta-63; 2 Bhagavati i 1, 6.