Facets of Jaina Religiousness in Comparative Light

SR No.: 001532
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: L M Joshi
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad
Publication Year: 1981
Total Pages: 88
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Philosophy, Religion, & 12 Anuprekshas
File Size: 6 MB

Page 76

JAINA CONCEPTION OE THE HOLY PENTAD
are spent up (vitarăga), are also mentioned in the Mundaka Upanişad.120 These liberarated saints are comparable to the śramaņas and sädhus. The early Buddhists conceived of a 'holy man' (b: āhmaṇa) in terms of an arhat and a khiņāsava.121
The divinity of the ācārya or guru is expressly taught in Brahmanical texts. The ācārya is "to be given desirable wealth” (ācāryāya priyam dhanam āhstya).122 A student is asked to wait upon the acārya as if he were a god (deva).123
The Manu-Smrti, which retains traditional Brahmanical conceptions, gives following definitions of ācārya, upadhyāya, and guru. "A brāhmana (dvija), who initiates a pupil and teaches him the Veda together with the Kalpa and the Rahasya, is called the ācārya. He who teaches a part of the Veda or also the Vedāngas for his livelihood, is called the upādhyāya. A brāhmaṇa (vipra) who performs according to rules the ceremonies of garbhādhāna and so on, and gives food (to the child) is called the guru.124 The sole criterion of veneration of a person according to this text is the knowledge of the Veda.125 It has scant regard for those who place supreme premium on the quest of ultimate Release. "A dvija who seeks mokṣa without having studied the Vedas, without producing sons, and without having offered sacrifices, goes downwards."126 It is clear that these views are far removed from those of Jaina sages, and mere occurrence of identical terms should not mislead us. The Jaina conceptions of the ācārya, the upādhyāya and the guru are more or less radically different from those found in early Brahmanism.
As in Jaina tradition so in Buddhist tradition, the conceptions of ācārya, upadhyāya, and sādhu are found ascetically oriented. The rules of Vinaya stress the need of both the ācariya and the upajjhāya in the training of young monks (bhikkhus). All of them are ordained members of the holy order of monks (sangha). The texts described qualities and duties of acariyas, upajjhāyas and bhikkhus which need not be discussed here. 127
120. Muntlaka Upanişad, II. 1-5; III. 1-6, 121. Dhammapada, vv. 93, 420. 122. Taittiriya Upaniş ad, I. xi. 1-2, ācārya devo bhava. 123. See Apastamba-Dharmasutra, 1.2.6.13. On ascetics in Brahmanism see Vasis tha-Dharmasutra.
X. 1-31; Baudhayana-Dharmasūtra, II. 10. 17. 1-45; Gautama-Dharmasutra, III. 1-36; Manu-Smrti, VI. 41-96. See also Yatidharmasangraha edited by V.G. Apte, Anandasrama Sanskrit Series, vol. 60 (1928). It is customary with Brahmanical Dharama sāstras to exalt the stage of the householder even after accepting the stage of a renouncer which they relegate to the last years of
one's life. 124. Manu-Smrti, II. 140-142, 125. Ibid., II. 156. 126. Ibid., VI. 37. 127, . See the Mahāvagga and Sutta Vibhanga sections of the Vinayapitaka. English translation by
I.B. Horner in Book of the Dissipline; Sukumar Dutt, Early Buddhist Monachism; R.K. Mokerji,
Ancient Indian Eduration,; J. Takakusu, A Record of the Buddhist Religion as Practised in India and the Malay Archipelago by I-tsing (A.D. 671-695).