ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 04

SR No.: 007719
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies
Publication Year: 2011
Total Pages: 567
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 15 MB

Page 479

2.10 Ahi s as a Means and as an End The Jaina recognises that Ahis can be both good as a means and good as an end. This means that both means and ends are to be tested by the criterion of Ahi s. Whenever we judge that a thing is
good as a means', we judge both that it will have a particular kind of effect, and that effect will be good in itself. It may be noted that ethical judgments regarding good as a means', may not be universally true; and many, though generally true at one period, will be generally false at another , whereas ethical judgments regarding good in itself are universally true.
In both these kinds of good, the criterion of good as Ahis is to be adhered to. I may say in passing that the principle that the end justifies the means" need not be rejected as immoral if the above criterion of means and ends is conceded. It may look paradoxical that Ahis is an end. But it is not so. Perhaps in order to avoid this misunderstanding that Ahis cannot be an end the S trakt ga has pronounced that Ahis is the highest good. In a similar vein, Samantabhadra has also said that Ahis of all living beings is equivalent to the realisation of the highest good. (12] This shows that there is no inconsistency in saying that Ahis is both an end and a means. Thus, the expression Ahi s Utilitarianism seems to me to be the most apt one to represent the Jaina theory of intrinsic goodness.
References: [1] Religious Consciousness by Pratt. Page 10 (Macmillan, New York). [2] Ibid, Page 7 [3] Mysticism and Philosophy by Stace, Page 109 (Macmillan, New York). [4] Ibid. [5] Philosophy of Religion by Brightman, Page 171 (Prentice Hall, New York). [6] Ratnakara da ravak c ra of Samantabhadra, 155, (Vra Sev Mandira, Delhi). [7] Krttikeyanuprek , 335, (R jacandra rama, g sa). [8] Ewing, Ethics, P. 129. [9] Pa c stik ya of Kundakunda, 10, (R jacandra rama, g sa). [10] cr ga s tra, 132, (Agama Prakana Samiti, Beawer). [11] Moore, Principia Ethica P. 22.
[12] Svayambh stotra: Tattvaprad pik, 119; (Shri Ganesvarni Digambara Jaina Sodha Samsthana,
Nariya, Varansai).
Page 469 of 556
STUDY NOTES version 4.0