Jainism Some Essays

SR No.: 001374
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: A S Gopani
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy
Publication Year: 1986
Total Pages: 156
Language: English
Classification: Book_English & Philosophy
File Size: 11 MB

Page 144

Theory of Manifold Aspects
[ 137
Aspects in Jainism, let us now take up in brief the question as to how much and where the Jainas have employed it.
The prestige enjoyed by every religious system is une xcelled, This is true in the case of Jainism also. Its scriptures are inviolable. However, the Nandi Sūtra of the Jaina scriptures provides an example which illustrates how the Theory of Manifold Aspects can be applied without any vehemence or inflexibility. It (the Nandi) lays down the test which decides whether a particular scripture is right (10) or wrong (f#cut). It adds a commentary that if an individual himself is discriminating or has a right approach, the Jaina scriptures or non-Jaina Mahābhārat etc. etc. will be deemed equally bonafide by hir... But, if the matter is reverse, that is to say, if the individual has developed and fostered a wrong approach, the scriptures, Jaina or non-Jaina, will be taken as malafide. The reason of this is that just as a thing assumes various forms according to the outlook, attittude, and approach of the seer, the scriptures also present themselves to the individual in the same colour wbich he wants to impose on them.
This makes it compulsory for us to lay down a rule that no scriptures, Jaina or non-Jaina, are exclusively right or wrong, true or false. It all depends as to how you take them.
The sun gives light, no doubt; but it is of no use to the owl and comes in the way of a thief who is addicted to stealing. Just so is the case with the Tirthañkaras and big wigs. Even though they have in their hearts the good of the people, they do not become respectable to all alike because a like or dislike for them is dependent on the recipients who may be either fit or unfit, qualified or unqualified. This means that the Tirtharkaras are no Tirthankaras to each and every one. This very rule applies to each and everything also. A thing may be the same; still it can bear various faces and wear various complexions according to the seers and spectators.
Noumenal View and Phenomenal Views,
The Jaina Ācāryas, following Mahāvira, have classified into two broad categories all the diverse viewpoints from which a thing is perceived or cognized. One category aims at a collective, general or synthetic perception while the other at a divided, particular or analytic perception. Whatever may be the category, kind or type, it is bound to be either this or that. According to Jain terminology the first, that is to say, the general