Jain Journal 1999 01

SR No.: 520133
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publication Year: 1999
Total Pages: 42
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, India_Jain Journal, & India
File Size: 3 MB

Page 13

BHATTACHARYYA: THE BASIC IDEA OF GOD
is held sacred, because it is supposed to have the 'power' of protecting the worshipper from evil or of curing his disease; because, in other words, beneficial influences are believed to be exercised upon the worshipper by the 'totem', while it is held to punish the disregard of its sacredness. Similarly, in fetichism; the 'fetich' e.g., a stick or a piece of stone is venerated, because a peculiar 'potency' is attributed to it by reason of some peculiarity in its structure or of its being informed by a powerful spirit or of its being a sign or a representation of a transcending deity. God is thus in all religions, essentially a 'powerful' being. Another fundamental characteristic of the God in all religions is that he has the 'immediate apprehension' of all things. A third similar divine feature is the 'Omniscience' of God, i.e. the fact of his truly knowing all things and phenomena. The last attribute that is ascribed to God in every religion is that he is essentially a being in uninterrupted 'joy'. So, these four, -infinite 'power', infinite 'apprehension', infinite 'knowledge' and infinite 'joy' are the features, attributed to God, in every religion.
The finding that an idea of God with the above-mentioned four attributes, is immanent in all forms of religion leads one to make a guess about the fundamentals of a universal religion i.e., a religion, acceptable to all the religious-minded people. It is that the God of the universal religion, is the God of supreme 'power', of infinite 'apprehension', of 'omniscience' and of unobstructed 'joy'. It is to be noted, however, that while the belief in such a God is traceable in all religions, it would be wrong to hold that this belief is fully rationalised and perfected in all of them, so far as its object is concerned. It may be that people of all ages have an instinctive belief in some form of Divinity with its four aspects, as indicated above; but this intuition must be held in the process of continuous rationalisation throughout the course of the religious history of a people. In the course of evolution, the native religious predisposition is supplemented by the intellectualism of the people, so that they come to develop a more and more perfected idea of God and his four features. Often-times, a religious hero who is much in advance of the ordinary people and who is variously regarded as a 'Messiah', a 'Prophet', a 'Seer' or 'God's own begotten', gives a more comprehensive and rational account of God. Sometimes, thinkers again apply their intelligence to the problem and arrive at a more perfect conception of God. But whether the religious idea is developed in the former manner by the teachings of a 'Revealer', i.e., the socalled 'founder' of the religion or amplified by the speculations of philosophers, there is always that original basis or intuitive propensity for the religious attitude which underlies the later belief, based upon argumentation or the faith founded upon the instructions of the Teacher'.
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