Essence Of Jaina Scriptures

SR No.: 022313
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jagdish Prasad Jain
Publisher: Kaveri Books
Publication Year: 2014
Total Pages: 508
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 38 MB

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THE ESSENCE OF JAINA SCRIPTURES
beings, particularly the moral and spiritual practitioners or seekers (shraman).
Such thinking or belief in reality is not correct. The knowledge and the firm conviction (shraddhan) in regard to the real nature of the self is imperative to distinguish between jiva and pudgal (matter), soul and body. Without this discriminative insight (bhed-vigyan), one cannot have an enlightened view (samyak-darshan) of the fundamental principles of life or the reality of things as they are. Moreover, since this enlightened view is the first necessary precondition in the path of liberation, one cannot attain liberation in its absence. Of course, one has to make efforts by adopting moral and spiritual discipline (conduct) to attain the objective of libration.
Pravachanasara verse 159 speaks of the self (consciousness) having the nature or the character of knowing (PS 159) and of establishing itself unswervingly in its own conscious attentiveness (upayoga) (PS 159 AC). In the subsequent verses, the self is distinguished from body, mind and speech, which are declared to consist of material (pudgal, unconscious) substance, while the self (the subjective awareness of "I") is distinguished from them since that awareness of 'I' is not composed of matter (PS 160-162).
Jiva Nikaya
In Pravachanasara verse 182, the soul substance (jiva dravya) is distinguished from the six classes of earth-bodied, etc. immobile and mobile souls or group of jivas (jiva nikaya),21 which are said to be other (anya) than jiva (PS 182). Jiva [jivatva, jiva tattva or atma dravya, i.e. consciousness-as-such], is one unitary self, its own substance (sva dravya) (PS 182 AC). This is considered to be other (anya) from these several classes of souls (PS 182), because these [conjoint psychophysical conscious entities] have elements of material or physical bioenergies (dravya pranas) (the body, mind, senses, etc.), made up of unconscious material substance (achetanatvat) (PS 182 AC) or that the jiva nikaya are the product of the coming into operation or rise of nama karman (PS 182 JS). The six classes of jiva nikaya are not "pure" consciousness-as-such, but are mixed with some elements of unconscious material substance, just as an ornament is not pure gold but is gold mixed with various elements like silver and copper. The perverse-minded people, however, errneously feel that the composite