Collected Research Papers in Prakrit and Jainology Vol 02

Author(s): Nalini Joshi
Publisher: University of Pune

Page 66

In the first and second Sūtra of Kaivalyapāda, these inborn skills are mentioned by Patañjali as "janmajā siddhis".
The cat-class animals train their young ones to catch the prey properly. The mother elephant teaches the young one to use its trunk in right manner for drinking water and gathering grass. We can tame the animals like elephant, camel, horse etc. very easily. According to Jaina norms we can call it karmajā buddhi or vainayiki buddhi.
The group-leader of the wild animals guide the group with its knowledge acquired through his life-time experiences, especially at the time of a calamity. Jainas would say that this type of behavior is pārināmiki buddhi.
Thus the fourfold intellect, described in the Jaina texts can be applied to five-sensed tiryancas.
(4) Communication-skill (Bhāṣā-vargaņā)
Naturalists are studying the sound-expressions of the tiryancas like whales and elephants by which they communicate with each other, of course limited to their particular species. In Jaina scriptures this expression is called bhāsā-varganā. The language of five-sensed tiryancas is thus inarticulate language, perhaps because it cannot be transcribed in letters.
It is noted down by a modern researcher that an elephant feels the vibrations of the shrill sounds of the companion through the padded soles of its foot. After analyzing the sound, the elephant expresses its reactions. The species like Gorilla, Chimpanzee etc. also have its anaksarā
bhāsa." The bird-watchers have noted down the sound-signals of certain birds. Of course these signals of birds are very few.
In Jainaism, one-sensed being possess the sense of touch. Language capacity is possible only when sense of taste (rasanendriya) is present (in a tongue-like limb) in the mouth. So all the beings from two-sensed to five-sensed have the potentiality of voice with which they can produce varying sounds to express their feelings of pleasure and pain, desire for food and co-habitation etc. The language-ability of five-sensed tiryancas is superior to the ability of four-sensed tiryancas but inferior to the ability of human beings, which is articulate in
nature.
Application of the model of bhāsā-paryāpti and bhāsā-varganā to all the classes of Jivas is the special feature of Jainaism in contemporary philosophies.
(5) Vows (Vratas)
According to Jaina norms, a vow is a self-imposed obligation as to what one ought to do and not to do. Vows generate beneficial Karman. A vow of self-restraint is one of ways of inhabitating karmic flow. Partially practised vows also cause samvara and nirjarā. Jaina texts
mention spirituality of tiryancas maximum up to 5" gunasthāna. It is of course due to the partial observance of vows. Here, an attempt is made to co-relate some of the partial vows with the behavior of five-sensed tiryancas.