Saman suttam Part 1

SR No.: 008022
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Kamalchand Sogani
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy
Publication Year: 1993
Total Pages: 119
Language: Prakrit, English
Classification: Book_Devnagari, Religion, & Principle
File Size: 6 MB

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dental and empirical, so as to bring home to us the totality of the self in its mundane and supermundane aspects. The transcendental view represents the self in its unadulterated state of existence, where as the empirical view describes the self in its defiled form. The former state is known as Siddha, while the latter one is called Samsan It is to be borne in mind that these two states of self are metaphysically indistinguishable, though the karmic adjuncts create distinctions between them In other words, the empirical self is potentially transcendental, though this noumenal state of existence is not actualized at present, hence the distinction is undeniable In view of the metaphysical position upheld by the Jaina there are infinite selves, and thus every mundane self is potentially Siddha, and this Siddhahood needs be actualized in the interest of arriving at the supreme summit of religious experience It is not idle to point out that though we are in the defiled form of existence from the beginningless past, the niscayanaya (transcendental view) reminds us of our spiritual magnificence and glory. It prompts the sullied self to behold its spiritual heritage When the self has ascended to the pinnacle of spiritual experience, the vyavahara-naya (empirical view) is of no significance for the aspirant The vyavahāra-naya which points to our slumbering state in the domain of spiritualism applies to our Samsar state, while the niscaya-naya which indicates our transcendental spiritual nature Is applicable to Siddha state in us To say that every empirical self is potentiallly divine (Siddha) is to say that it is basically possessing infinite knowledge, infinite bliss and infinite energy Thus spiritual realization consists in the full manifestation of the cognitive, affective and conative potencies inherent in the self Let us now discuss the nature of self from the aforesaid perspectives
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First, the vyavahāra-naya tells us that the empirical self owns at least four prăņas (one sense, one bala, life-limit and breathing) and at bes' ten pranas (five senses, three balas, life-limit and breathing) The lowest in the grade of existence are the onesensed souls They possess four prāņas, namely, sense of touch, bala of body, life-limit and breathing, and they are of four kinds namely, earth-bodied, water-bodied, fire-bodied, air-bodied and vegetable-bodied selves As we move higher on the ladder of biological existence, we have two-sensed to five sensed selves having six, seven, eight, nine and ten prāņas respectively We may point out in passing that it is only the five-sensed human selves who are capable of unfolding their potential divinity In contradistinction to vyavahāra-naya, the niscaya-naya points out that knowledge- consciousness, (jñāno- cetanā) is the real prāna of self It is by virtue of this that the self is distinguished from other substances The noumenal view does not take any note of the ten prāņas, but keeps its eyes fixed on the essential life of the self, namely, knowledge- consciousness