Ethical Doctrines in Jainism

SR No.: 006955
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Kamalchand Sogani
Publisher: Jain Sanskruti Samrakshak Sangh Solapur
Publication Year: 2001
Total Pages: 322
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 8 MB

Page 270

248
ETHICAL DOCTRINES IN JAINISM
the proper maintenance of the vows one should reflect on the afflictions that may befall here and hereafter as a result of not observing them properly or violating them.
3) Āsana and 4) Prāņayāma. Steady and comfortable posture is Asana. Rythmical and Regulated breathing is Prāņāyāma. The importance of posture has also been recognised in Jainism. The Mülācāra tells us that the saint engaged in study and meditation is not subjected to sleep and passes his night in some caves after having seated himself in the postures of Padmāsana, or Vīrāsana and the like.3 The Kārttikeyānuprekşā and the Jñānārņava prescribe certain postures to practise meditation. We have already dealt with these. Prāņāyāma has not found favour with Jainism. This recognition may be corroborated by the enunciation of Subhacandra that Prāņayāma acts as a barricade to the saint aspiring to emancipation, on account of the acquisition of supernormal powers by it, though he recognises its importance for the development of concentration.
5) Pratyāhāra. It implies the withdrawal of the senses from their natural objects of attractions. This may be compared with the control of five senses as one of the Mūlaguņas of the Jaina monk.8
These five constitute the moral and the intellectual preparation of the saints who move higher on the spiritual path. The external and internal distractions at this stage lose all their potency to seduce the aspirant. Nevertheless, certain obstacles may intervene and imperil his advancement. They are: 1) Vyādhi (sickness)-disturbance of physical equilibrium, 2) Styāna (languor)—the lack of mental disposition for work, 3) Samśaya (Indecision)—thought debating between the two sides of a problem, 4) Pramāda (heedlessness)—the lack of reflection on the means of samādhi, 5) Ālasya (Indolence)-inertia of mind and body owing to heaviness, 6) Avirati (sensuality)—the desire aroused when sensory objects possess the mind, 7) Bhrānti darśana (false, invalid notion)-false knowledge, 8) Alabdhabhūmikatva (inability to see reality because of psychomental mobility), 9) Anavasthititva (Instability which hampers the stability of mind, in spite of achieving Yoga Bhūmi). This
1 Y. Sū. II. 46.
2 Ibid. II. 49, 50. 3 Müla. 794, 795. 4 Kärtti. 355; Jñānā. XXVIII. 10. 5 Jñānā. XXX. 6, 11. 6 Ibid. XXIX. 1. 7 Y. Sū. II. 54, 55.
8 Mülā. 16. 9 Y. Sū. & Bhäsya. I. 30. (Trans. partly from 'Yoga, Immortality and Freedom' by Micrcea Eliade. p. 381.)