________________
68
MAHĀVĪRA: HIS LIFE AND TEACHINGS
a result, the non-gliding of the self in the course of samsara in future (ayatim anavassavo). The sequel of this is the destruction of karman (kammakkhayo), the sequel of that is the destruction of the painful physical condition of the self (dukkhakkhayo), the sequel of that is the destruction of the painful mental condition of the self (vendanākkhayo), and from that ultimately results a complete wearing out of all pain, bodily or mental (sabbam dukkham nijjinnam bhavissati).1
Thus here we have a somewhat clumsy but, upon the whole, a correct and faithful reproduction of the words of Mahavira as represented by his disciples to those of the Buddha The historical importance of this Buddhist statement of Mahavira's teachings is that it points to a very early formulation of the main ideas of Jainism. Its importance lies also in the fact that it sets forth the whole chain of reasoning by which the terms of the Jaina thought were interlinked, the sequence ending in nurjara or mokṣa. It serves also to unveil the plan of thought in which the chain of reasoning was sought to be developed by arranging the terms broadly under two heads : positive and negative, or negative and positive.
1 Majjhima-Nikaya, I, 93
