Fundamental Principles of Jainism

SR No.: 250099
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: B C Law
Publisher: Z_Vijay_Vallabh_suri_Smarak_Granth_012060.pdf
Publication Year: 1956
Total Pages: 35
Language: English
Classification: Article & Philosophy
File Size: 2 MB

Page 11

JAINISM
M
expectations of men. From the psychological point of view dukkha is a feeling or vedand which is felt by the mind either in respect of the body or in respect of itself and as a feeling it is conditioned by certain circumstances. Whether a person is affected by suffering or not depends on the view he takes of things. If the course of common reality is this that, being once in life, one cannot escape either decay or death and if the process of decay sets in or death actually takes place, there is no reason why that person should be subject to dukkha by trying to undo what cannot be undone. Thus we see that dukkha is based on the misconstruction of the law of things (dhammata) or the way of happening in life. If the order of things cannot be changed, two courses are open to individuals to escape from suffering: (1) to view and accept the order as it is, and (2) to enquire if there is any state of consciousness, on the attainment of which, an individual is no longer affected by the vicissitudes of life. Dukkha is nowhere postulated as a permanent feature of reality. It is entertained only as a possible contingency in life as it is generally lived. Happiness lies in the association with the Elect and in the sight of them. The association with the wise brings happiness. It is always desirable to follow the wise, intelligent, learned, dutiful, the enduring and the Elect (Dhammapada, Sukhavagga). There is no happiness higher than tranquillity. Health is the greatest gain, contentment is the best wealth, trust is the best of relationships but nirvana is the highest happiness. He is happy who has tasted the sweetness of solitude and tranquillity and who is free from fear and sin.
The Jainas like the Buddhists believe that himsă or life-slaughter is the greatest sin. As a man kills a jiva, so will he be killed in hell. Dishonesty, covetousness, conceit, avarice, attachment, hatred, quarrelsomeness, slander, fault-finding and lack of self-control are considered as sins in Jainism, which lead people to suffer. Mokkha according to the Jainas is the highest happiness. One who has attained it, is called a siddha or a perfected one. A siddha is a being self-controlled, without caste, unaffected by smell, without the sense of taste, without feeling, without form, without hunger, without pain, without sorrow, without joy, without birth, without old age, without death, without body, without karma, enjoying an endless and unbroken tranquillity because of the complete waning out of all causes of suffering or dukkha.
1. "Arogya paramā lābhā, santutthi paramam dhanam Dissāsa purama nat nibbanam paramam sukham.” (Dhammapada, V. 204).