Jaina Concept of Omniscience

SR No.: 001547
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Ramjee Singh
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad
Publication Year: 1974
Total Pages: 258
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Philosophy, & Knowledge
File Size: 17 MB

Page 188

MIMĀMSAKAS' OBJECTIONS ANSWERED
175
The Jainas do not believe either in the self-sufficiency of verbal cognition or in the eternal character of the Vedas, nor do they regard it as the only authoritative source of knowledge of dharma. They attribute the knowledge of dharma to their tīrtharkaras, who are omniscient, faultless and detached from the world. Hence, they have found a substitute for the Veda. It is this reason that the Mimārsakas oppose tooth and nail the entire doctrine of the omniscient person, as the final and infallible authority of morality, duty, etc. The second reason for their opposition to the idea of omniscience was mainly religious. The Mimārsakas adhered to karmakānda or the Vedic ritualism which treats of many actions but mostly of sacrifices (yajña). (Hence, Mimāmsā is also called yājñamimāṁsā or cdhvara-mīmāṁsā ) Therefore, violence crept slow. ly into the Vedic religion in the name of yajña or sacrifices, which shocked the conscience of the Jainas, because for them, non-violence had always been the supreme dharma. They, there. fore, attacked the cult of vedic ritualism, the main plank of the Mimāṁsā philosophy, However, to the Mimāṁsakas dharma is what is Vedic ard cdharma what is non-vedic. So, they could not accept any other criterion. Hence, to defend their basic position, they had naturally to attack the main basis of the reliability of Jaina-scriptures, namely, the omniscience of Mahāvīra etc. Thirdly, Jainism was a challenge to the Vedic culture in general. It not only challenged the supreme authority of the Vedas, the efficacy of rites and rituals, but also the established superiority of the Brahmins in the then social set up. This led to an ideological warfare between the Vedic and Śramanic cultures of India, with the result that each tried to
ipe out the other. However, the idea of omniscience in Jainism was the most stable factor, Hence the Mimāsakas opposed it so vehemently.
II. Mimamsakas' Objections Answered (A) Objections regarding the nature of Omniscience In order to refute the doctrine of omniscience, the Mim