Jaina Ethics

SR No.: 001334
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Dayanand Bhargav
Publisher: Motilal Banarasidas
Publication Year: 1968
Total Pages: 314
Language: English
Classification: Book_English & Principle
File Size: 15 MB

Page 109

Jaina Ethics one faith to another faith in the missionary sense of the term.
(2) In Jainism, as in other religions of India, only acceptance of a code of principles is necessary but we need not accept the over-all supremacy of a particular person. There can be no Mohammedan without accepting Mohammad as the messenger of God and no Christian without accepting Christ as the son of God. No person is assigned such superhuman position by Jainism. The Tirtharkaras were as human as we are; only they conquered their passions which we can also do and attain the same status which they did.
(3) Jainism realises the direct comprehension of truth as a landmark in the life of an aspirant. But it is only the beginning of the journey, not the end. Belief does affect our conduct but old habits do not break instantaneously. Right faith must lead to right conduct. Our conviction must compell us to act accordingly. Hence right faith, from which the ethics begins, can lead to perfection only when followed by right conduct.
(4) Mere conduct and knowledge are impotent without right faith. It means that all moral virtues should be deeply rooted in the spiritual realisation. Without right faith, the moral virtues remain merely means of attaining selfish motives like name and fame. Right faith implies that duty is to be performed not for some petty immediate gain but for the attainment of the highest goal of perfection. This saves the aspirant from being entrapped in the allurements of worldly pleasures which he may easily come across as a result of his good activities.
(5) To some extent, the position of a right believer may be compared to that of a nişkāma karmayogi of the Gitā. He has no desire, no attachment, still he engages himself in activities under the influence of previous karmans. These activities are not always good. But the inner detachment of the right believer weakens the force of karmans remarkably.
We shall have more occasion to deal with the character of a samyagdarsi while dealing with the stages of spiritual development (gunasthāna). Suffice it to say for the present, that right faith means an inner conversion and not merely verbal acceptance of certain truths. The truth of truths is the self. Therefore from real point of view, samyagdarśana means