Lord Mahavira Vol 02

SR No.: 023277
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: S C Rampuria
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati Institute
Publication Year: 2001
Total Pages: 244
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 21 MB

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Lord Mahavira of all, it is the safe, happy and quiet place which the great sages reach. It is the eternal place according to the Uttaradhyayana Sutralo According to Mahâvîra one should practise self, restraint with regard to the body, speech or mind. This is what is called Samvara which is just the other aspect of dukkarakarika or tapas. By the fourfold self-restraint the Buddha meant the four moral precepts each of which is viewed in its fourfold aspect. The practice of penances was to be resorted to as a means of wearing out and ultimately destroying the effects of sinful deeds committed in former existences and that of the threefold self-restraint as a means of not giving effect to a new karma. From the undoing of the effects of old karma by means of penances and the non-doing of such acts as are likely to produce a new karmic effect, there follows the non-gliding of the self in the course of samsara in future. The sequel of this is the destruction of karma, the sequel of that is the destruction of the painful physical and mental conditions of the self. The three essential things of Jainism are Jnana or sphere of knowledge and intuition, darsana or sphere of faith and devotion, and caritra or sphere of conduct and behaviour. 11 The main system of Jainsim came to be represented as Navatattva or doctrine of nine terms, e.g. jiva, ajiva, bondha, punya, papa, asrava, samvara, karmaksaya and moksa. 12 The doctrine of Nayas is just what is called Syadvada. The Nayas are no other than the seven modes of Syadvada. The Syad mode was the real way of escape from the position of the dogmatist and that of the sceptic from both of which Mahâvîra recoiled. Kriyavada is nothing but Karmavada or the doctrine of action. 13 Buddhism also was promulgated as a form of Kriyavada or Karmavada. In the teachings of Mahâvîra, Kriyavada is sharply distinguished from akriyavada (doctrine of non-action), ajnanavada (scepticism) and vinayavada (Formalism). There are various types of akriyavada mentioned in the Sutrakrtanga which have been well discussed by me in my “Mahâvîra : His Life and Teachings” (Pp. 76-78). The Vinayavada is the same as silabbataparamasa of the Buddhists. It is a view of those who maintain that the purity of oneself may be reached through the observance of certain moral precepts or by keeping certain vows as prescribed. The upholders of Vinayavada assert that the goal of religious life is realised by conformation to the rules of discipline.14 The painful condition of the self is brought