Jaina Literature and Philosophy a Critical Approach

SR No.: 001936
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Sagarmal Jain
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith
Publication Year: 1998
Total Pages: 126
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Philosophy, Religion, & Literature
File Size: 13 MB

Page 109

The Teachings of Arhat Pärśva And The Distinctness of His Sect
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The animate beings are activity-oriented, the inanimate substances are change-oriented or dynamic in nature.
The animate beings have two types of experience, of pain and pleasure. Only those who can get rid of violence and other evils including wrong viewpoint will have the feeling of bliss. A Nirgrantha, who eats only inanimate things, will meet emancipation and thus will end the transmigratory cycle.
In the second version of this chapter the following additional concepts are also mentioned: (1) The motion is of two types: (i) self-motivated and (ii)
generated by external factors. (2) Whatsoever a person experiences, it is due to his own,
and not due to other's deeds. (3) Those who observe the cäturyama (the fourfold ethical
code beginning with non-violence and ending with non-possession) will be free from the eight-fold karmas and will not be rebom in the four yonis or generic categories.
The essence of the doctrines and ethical teachings of Parsva as embodied and expositioned in the Isibhäsiyain may be thus summarized: (i) The world is eternal with no creator behind it. (ii) Permanence in change is the essential nature of the
world. World is dynamic in disposition. It consists of
the five astikāyas, existentialities. (iii) Substances are of two kinds, animate and inanimate. (iv) The animate possesses an upward motion; the
inanimate (by law of gravity), downward motion. (v) The motion is of two kinds: (a) self-motivated and
(b) directed by external factors. (vi) The gati or transmigratory motion of animate beings
is due to their own karmas, while the motion of
matter is due to its own dynamic nature and inertia. (vii) The karmas are of eight types. (viii) Evil and non-restraint activities consequence in pain
and in the cycle of births and deaths. (ix) Those who indulge in passions and violence cannot
achieve the eternal peace and bliss. (x) Liberation can be achieved through the observance
of four yāmas, self-restraints.
followers of Pārśva and not by Părśva himself. It is in the Isibhāsiyain alone that the original version of Pärśva's teachings is directly and implicitly present. Elsewhere we meet with Pårśva's views by proxy, through the discussions between the followers of Pärśva and that of Mahāvira or in a few instances by Mahävira hemself.
In the Sütrakrtānga," for instance, is incorporated a conversation between Gautama and Udaka-Pedhalaputra, the follower of Pārsva, on the nature and language of the pratyākhyāna-vow of non-violence. In this long discussion Udaka-Pedhālaputra stressed on a technical point that, while taking the vow of non-violence, one must frame it in the language that "I shall not kill the being, who is presently in mobile-form (trasa-bhūta) instead of saying 'I shall not kill any mobile being." Similarly, in the Vyākhyāprajñanti" some observations relating to the difference in minutiae about the nature and meaning of the terms sämāyika, the pratyakhyana, the samvara, the viveka and the vyutsarga have been made during the discussion of Kālāsyavaisyaputra, the follower of Parśva and some sthaviras of the Mahavira's following.
In the Vyākhyāprajñapti" we come across a very interesting and pinpointed discussion between the layfollowers of Mahavira and the śramaņas of Pārsva's tradition on the outcome of restraint and penance. It had been questioned: If the outcome of restraint is to stop the influx of fresh karmas and of penance to liberate the soul from the kärmic bondage, then why the souls are bom as devas in the celestial regions? To this question different answers were given by the framanas of the Pārsva's church. At last Kaśyapa said it is due to the adherence to pious deeds such as penance and restraint that the souls are born as devas in celestial quarters. In the Uttaradhyayana we also come across an interesting dialogue between Gautama and Kesi on aspects relating to the monastic disciplines and spiritual practices; as a result, some distinctive features of Pārsva's teachings surface.
Teachings of Pārsva in other Canonical Works
In the Sūtrakrtānga, the Uttarādhyayana, and the Vyakhyaprajñapti, we find some explanation of, or minute observations on, what is broadly stated in the Isibhāsiyāin. In these texts the views of Parsva are presented by the
Distinctness of Pārsva's Sect
Pārsva as well as Mahāvira belonged to the Nirgrantha section of the Sramanic traditions which had several similarities in doctrines, philosophy, and religious practices. So far as the philosophical aspect of their teachings is concerned, the traditions of Pārsva and Mahavira have much in common. Scholars of Nirgranthology like Pl. Sukhlal Sanghvi and others are of the opinion that the Mahāvira's sect has considerably borrowed from that of