Anandrushi Abhinandan Granth

Author(s): Vijaymuni Shastri, Devendramuni
Publisher: Maharashtra Sthanakwasi Jain Sangh Puna

Page 774

Dr. Bashishtha Narain Tripathi, M.A., D.Phil. [U. G. C. Senior Fellow, Deptt. of Philosophy, Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi J
Human Nature and Destiny in Jainism
In the course of evolution, life emerges out of matter. Man, as spirit, as the highest self-conscious, rules the universe with the aid of Karma. "Life becomes what is does." There, in five words, is the essence of the law. It follows that human history, from one point of view, is nothing but a record of the Karma of Humanity, working itself out according to the good or evil of our rational, national and personal deeds. Karma neither rewards nor punishes: it only restores lost harmony. He who suffers deserves suffering, and he who has reason to rejoice is reaping where he has caused it, there is no excuse for callous indifference to their suffering, by those more 'fortunate.' Once the law of Karma is understood, it will be seen that there is no such thing as luck, good or bad, but the subsequents follow antecedents by a bond of inner consequence, it is not merely numerical sequence of arbitrary and isolated units but a rational interconnection. Nor is the doctrine of Karma equivalent to the doctrine of Predestination or Determinism still less is it Fatalism. The latter implies a blind course of some still blinder power, but man is a free agent during his stay on earth, free i. e., within the working of the Law. For, viewed from one life, the 'operative Karma of life' is equivalent to the Greek Nemesis or Destiny. But this destiny is not the decree of a wrathful God but the product of Man's imagining. Esoterically, from the spiritual point of view, Karma is the law of moral retribution, whereby not only does every cause have an effect; but he who puts the cause in action suffers the effect.
To all intents and purposes, this is a very knotty subject puzzling the best intellectuals from time immemorial. One school of thought contends that there is no scope for free will and everything happens according to plan; another school contends that there is no scope for Destiny (Prarabdha) and everything happens according to one's own exertions, while a third school contends that both destiny and free will work side by side in human activities. In the midst of these conflicting theories, it becomes very difficult for an ordinary person to have a clear idea of the subject to help him conduct himself in the given environment. In the context of freedom and spiritual
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