Soteriology In Early Jainism

SR No.: 269511
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Klaus Bruhn
Publisher: Klaus Bruhn
Total Pages: 14
Language: English
Classification: Article
File Size: 2 MB

Page 12

Soteriology in Early Jainism
82.
KLAUS BRUHN
(b) Early Jaina literature was closely connected with the literary developments outside Jainism: Dharmasútras, Mahabharata and Ramayana, early Buddhist literature. From the point of view of kasaya studies, the situation is interesting in more than one respect. General parallels (formulas, phrases, clichés etc.) will be found in anustubh literatures: Mbh. "akrodhena jayet krodham"; Tipitaka: "akkodhena jine kodham"; Dassa "uvasamena hape koham". More relevant to the kasāya subject as such are enumerations of psychic conditions (all understood as either virtues or vices). We mention first of all the double passage ApDhS 1.8.23.5-6 (vices and virtues) noticed by C. Caillat (Caillat 1986). The first part of this passage (5) starts with krodho, harso, roso, lobho, moho. dambho, droho. Eight further vices are added. The second part of the passage (6) starts with seven negations (a-krodho... a-droho) which are followed by another fourteen virtues. A double list is also found in AN (Dukanipata 15-16). Here, both virtues and vices are enumerated in the form of pairs. The virtues are listed in section 15 ("ajjavan ca maddavan ca, khanti ca soraccan ca...") and the vic in 16 ("kodho ca upanāho ca ... māya ca sätheyyan ca..."). The study of parallels may also lead to a study of differences. Our kasaya syn. onyms ( 4 A) and the tracts in the Anguttara-Nikāya demonstrate that the Jainas and Buddhists were keen to develop their own vocabulary which was often more esoteric and in any case more sectarian than terms found in Brahmanical sources. It is therefore surprising that the Jainas canonized the kasaya concept on the basis of the current words "koha, māņa, māyā, lobha", instead of introducing some of their cryptic synonyms.
pics, in particular of their various concrete forms). Again we need, within Jainism, side by side general and specialized analyses of scholastic developments (see $ 1 supra). (d) As is clear from the foregoing, Dassa does not contain anything like a kasaya tract, let alone a systematic description of the soteriological relevance of the kasāya subject. There are only two kasaya verses which relate to soteriological aspects: 388 (: 7.57) and 427 (8.39). Both contain the term "kasāya", and the second line of 427 reads: "cattari ee kasiņā kasāyā sifcanti malam punab-bhavassa": "all these four passions water the roots (of that tree) called reincarnation" (Sch.). It is on the basis of such short statements that we have to study the soteriological background or ambience of Dassu. Genuine soteriological evidence is, however, found in the metrical section of Chapter 4. This portion is inter alia an early testimonium for the later padartha chain. For the evolution of the padartha concept see K.K. Dixit 1973a (pp. 25-30) and Ohira, TS (pp. 55-57 and 104). (e) Jainism has never offered a clear answer to the question "how does a man or a woman reach salvation?". A clear answer would imply a minimum of plausibility ("cognitive" rather than "affective"), a degree of complexity (a doctrine and no aphorism), a measure of uniformity (one line of argument and not several lines), and a minimum of recognition (the answer should be found in more than one text). The dogmatic gap is all the more surprising since the elements needed for an answer were in fact available. But in spite of this no answer according to our criteria emerged. This is all the more surprising since, for a considerable span of time, soteriology in a non-theistic form was at the centre of ideological discussions and identified the prevailing "Zeitgeist". Also the issue of salvation did not primarily worry the people in general but engaged in the first place the religious-minded intelligentsia. Even then the lack of clarity was not really felt - lack of Information and clarification is not unexpected in situations of this type. Rationality is often qualified by emotions, and the importance of arguments is reduced if there is some consensus regarding good and bad acts, correct and incorrect views etc. (1) Jainism has a large corpus of ethical literature and Jainism also demonstrates the difficulties of studying the history of ethics in a complex tradition. In order to describe the inherent problems we men
(c) As shown by the present article, the kasāya material of early Jainism is a text-book example for the issue of Jaina terminology (and vocabulary in general). By contrast, a study of the later kasaya discourses (Bhagavati. Prajhapana, Kaşayaprabhrta, Karmagranthas) would mainly serve to demonstrate Jaina scholasticism. In that case the accent should be on form and structure, on dialectic patterns and techniques. See DJ $ 21 and Deleu, Vi.. Pp. 353-54 (references) for calculations and various speculations; see Bhatt, Ni. for niksepas, bhangas etc. The developments are to some extent universal (bhanga technique common to Jainas and Buddhists) and to some extent linked with special subiects (relative isolation of the niksepa and kasaya to