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 74

A SOURCE-BOOK IN JAINA PHILOSOPHY
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diversification of being. Therefore, being is, and all difference, multiplicity and change are mere illusion. As Permenides tried to establish the theory of being, Heraclites attempted to advance the theory of change on similar grounds. Jaina philosophers refuted the argument of those who tried to establish the reality as a change and flux, and established the theory of the reality of the Identity and Difference.
The third view presents a theory of identity and difference. According to this theory, identity or oneness is as real as difference and multiplicity. In the Nyāya-Vaiseșika theory, we find that there is equal emphasis on the universal and the particular (sāmānya and višesa). The substance and its modifications are based on the universality and the differentia of a thing. The universal and the particular are both important, for instance, the concept of cow as a universal, is as much derived from the generality of particulars, as particulars derive their identity from the universality of the universal. Therefore, the universal and particular are both independent and real. This is clear from the example mentioned above regarding the relation of the particular cow to the universal 'cow in general'. This view tries to reconcile the two theories which apparently contradict each other and affirm the reality of the universal or the particular as the case may be. The Syādvädamañjarī mentions that the universal and the particular are equally real and complementary to each other and yet different from each other.1
Next, we come to the theory of qualified monistic theory (višiştādvaita). There are two forms of this theory. One gives prominence to the unity for the oneness making multiplicity only as an expression of the unity. Rāmānuja presented a Qualified Monism in wbich the one expresses itself into the many. The Brahman and the world are real. The soul merges itself into the Brahman as the waters of tbe river merge into the waters of the sea. The triple principle of cit, acit and Tšvara are real. The Reality is one and the self and the world are the expressions of the reality. The world is considered to be the body of Tsvara and Tsvara is the soul of the world. fsvara is, therefore, considered to be the one with the cit and acit as its 1 Syādvadamañjari-7.
Ayuta siddhānāmādhāryādhārabhutānärh iha pratyayahetuh sambandhaḥ sa samavāyaḥ.