Bhartrharis Familiarity With Jainism

Author(s): Jan E M Houben
Publisher: Jan E M Houben

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Bhartphari's familiarity with Jainism for our understanding of Bhartphari's perspectivism and his philosophy of language. 1.1.1 The Mahābhāsya-Dipikā refers to the Jainas by the name of 'followers of the Arhat' in MBHD 1:19.11. Bhartçhari starts to discuss the following phrase in the Mahābhāsya: siddhā dyauḥ siddhā prthivi siddham ākāśam. His first remark on this phrase is: ārhatānāṁ mimāṁsakānāṁ ca naivāsti vināšat eşām. "For the followers of the Arhat and the Mimāṁsakas there is no destruction of these (namely heaven, earth and the intermediate space)." 1.1.2 The TS chapters 3 and 4 discuss the Jaina views on the three lokaregions, lower, middle and heavenly. The different living beings and their lifetimes in these regions are described in detail, but nothing is said about a complete destruction of the loka itself. Chapter 5 discusses the substances recognized by the Jainas, namely dharma, adharma, akāśa and pudgala, (together constituting ajiva) and as the fifth jiva, the soul. These substances are considered to be permanent (TS 5.1-3). The specific Jaina view on what is real and their view on permanence is discussed in TS 5.29-30.5 From the different statements referred to above it can be inferred that the author of the TS, although he did not do so explicitly and did not use the terms used in the MBA, rejected a complete destruction of heaven, earth, and intermediate space. In this respect he did not deviate from the earlier, canonical texts.6 1.2.1 Here, we should also mention MBHD 1:16.28-29, which forms part of an enumeration of different views on what a permanent śabda would mean: kecid evaṁ manyante / ya evaite prākstāḥ śabdāḥ ta evaite nityāḥ prakȚtau bhavāḥ prākṣtāḥ. Joshi and Roodbergen translate this as follows: "Some think like this: Those words only, which are prākṣta 'original' are eternal. (The word) prākȚtāḥ is derived in the sense of) prakstau bhavāḥ arising from the origin' (pl. nom. masc.)” (Joshi-Roodbergen, 1986:86-87). In a note they add:
4 Delete the visarga of vināšah in the MBHD (cf. MS, reproduced in Mahābhāşya-Dipika, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona, 1980: p. 8, section a, line 4). 5 TS 5. 29: utpăda-vyaya-dhrauvya-yuktar sat; 5.30: tadbhāvāvyayaṁ nityam: "That which is associated with the three features) origination, destruction and permanence is sat 'real'. That which does not deviate from its essence is permanent." 6 Cf. Dixit, 1971, p. 33 (in a section devoted to the Bhagavati-sūtra): "In the field of cosmography some of the most basic Jaina positions are that loka (world) has got a particular shape, that loka is surrounded by aloka (non-world), that loka and aloka are two beginningless and endless entities."
Jan E.M. Houben, Pune, March 1994 (pre-final version)
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