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Soul Substance (jīva dravya) – As Expounded In Dravyasamgraha
VIJAY K. JAIN*
Abstract
Soul substance (jīva dravya) is ubiquitous but unseen. Driving force within each one of us, it has been, since time immemorial, a subject matter of research by philosophers, religious leaders and laity. Still, ambiguity and misconceptions prevail as regard its real nature. Some negate the existence of soul and attribute consciousness to the union of four basic substances - earth (prthvi), water (jala), fire (agni), and air (vāyu); death leads to its annihilation. Some believe it to be momentary, devoid of self-existence. Still others consider it a product of illusion (māyā) or ignorance (avidyā) as all objects are manifestations of Brahma; only the one eternally undivided Brahma exists. All such conceptions are based on absolutism like: existence (bhāvaikānta) and non-existence (abhāvaikānta), non-dualism (advaita-ekānta) and separateness (pythaktva-ekānta), and permanence (nityatva-ekānta) and momentariness (kşaņika-ekānta). Jaina epistemology goes beyond the superficial and examines objects of knowledge from all possible points of view. It asserts that the entity (dharmi) and its attributes (dharma) are neither absolutely dependent (āpeksika) nor absolutely independent (anāpeksika). Only an entity which has general (sāmānya - concerning the substance, drauya) and particular (viseşa - concerning the mode, paryāya) attributes can be the subject of knowledge. Substance without its modification and modification without its substance cannot be the subject of valid knowledge; only their combination can be the subject of valid knowledge.
Some tenets of Jaina epistemology are first described as aid to understanding the soul substance (jīva dravya), lest the elucidation be misinterpreted. Dravyasamgraha (verse 2) expounds the soul (jīva) as characterized by consciousness (cetanā) that is concomitant with cognition (upayoga), incorporeal (amūrta), a causal agent (kartā), coextensive with the body (sadehaparimāņa), enjoyer of the fruits of karmas (bhoktā), having the world as its abode (samsārastha), liberated (Siddha), and of the nature of darting upwards (ürdhvagamana). Each characteristic is elucidated in reference to standpoints (naya).
All that is contained in this paper has been excerpted and translated into English from authentic Jaina Scriptures; infelicities, inadequacies and inconsistencies are mine. A list of suggested readings is provided at the end.
*An independent researcher having translated and edited several Jaina Scriptures, Vijay K. Jain did his graduation in Electronics Engineering from Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, and Post-Graduation in Management from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He is the CEO of Vikalp Printers, a printing and publishing firm based in Dehradun, India. Invited paper for presentation at the "Prakrit International Conference", Shravanabelagola (Karnataka), India, 3 - 6 November, 2017.
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