Aspect of Jainology Part 2 Pandita Bechardas Doshi

Author(s): M A Dhaky, Sagarmal Jain
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Page 420

faina Religion-Its Plea, Practice and Prospects
It is in the very nature of a human being, whether he is a Brahminist or a Jaina, that he must strive hard for securing power, knowledge with happiness as end in view. No sensible human being has, and can have, any other ideal or objective. Discontent for the present conditions and environs and the attainment of the most ideal conditions and situation, thus is the motivating force behind all his activities. Intellectual development (which is the helping factor in his activities) is the distinguishing quality that places man above all sentient and conscient beings. He possesses the faculty of discrimination which he employs in distinguishing, separating truth from untruth. This unique equipment enables him to put forth effort to obtain mastery on Nature. He is not bothered by the fact that he is at the moment enslaved due to nescience, for he is confident that he possesses potential which he can bring to use, when he wills to work out his own absolute freedom. Hankering for this highest goal-ultimate liberation--is innate in him, providing, according to Jaina rackoning, he is a bhavya, or eligible for emancipation.
Indeed there exist persons (though extremely few in number) who by nature or training are averse to the pleasures of the senses. Their perception is at once clear, penetrating and comprehensive. They are continually endeavouring to realize the eternal truth or abiding essence of the entity, through calm of mind and control of the sense-organs. Some do succeed and then they are designated “supremes". The rise and fall of a nation can be linked up directly with the presence or absence of such supermen.
When broadly divided, religion falls into two categories, namely eternal, or basic, and transitory, or changing. Ideology on which it rests or is founded is its permanent and principal limb; while the rites, rituals and ceremonious celebrations, symbols and images, temples and accessories etcetera, collectively form its subordinate of superficial limb which is renovated from time to time. The philosophy which, along with other things, treats of the relationships of soul with that of the complete annihilation of the karmas resulting into final release from the bondage, is for certain the "basic" one. What can happen if top priority is assigned to religion in the organisation and management of one's own life? If we so did, the materialists state, we would from the start be deemed "failures” from the worldly standpoint. This doubtless can happen if sufficient discrimination is not exercised and no balance between the mundane and the supramundane persuits is maintained. A balance then should be the guiding principle in all activities and actions. The Jainas called it viveka, or sadviveka.
Various theories are advanced a proposal of the origin of the religious instinct in man. According to some, the religion was invented to explain the grand nature of the organized universe, the supposed (or imagined) miraculous background of certain awesome and sometimes inexplicable phenomena, and the concept and operation of Godhood behind these two. According to others-and
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