Concept of Paryaya in Jain Philosophy

Author(s): S R Bhatt, Jitendra B Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 79

Paryaya : A Doctrine of Parinama thus a basis of them. The various moulds it gets into are in its modifications. There cannot be a quality without a substance and no substance without qualities. Dravya is thus ever connected with qualities and modifications. It is the one that is productive (utpadayukta) and expanding (vyayasila) but yet ever continuous. In everything, its production (utpatti), stability (sthiti) and destruction (vinasa) exist alltogether. A thing is not absolutely permanent (ekanta-nitya), nor is it absolutely momentary (ekanta-ksanika), nor is it set in eternity (kutasthanitya) but it is only a changing continuing being (parinami-nitya). In one and the same thing there is a difference of conditions, as for example a mango fruit in its unripe stage is of green color at one time but later it gets to be of yellow color, when ripe, but it remains still a mango. Like this the different forms of jewelry, the shape and uses of course have changed but the material is same in different levels. Dravya or Reality neither gets produced nor does it meet with destruction. Production and destruction are themselves the modification as seen in the universe at different levels. Whenever, there is modification there is dravya or Reality, and thus at one and the same time there is production, destruction and continuous existence. Likewise, all the three situations are found in the universe, because universe is composition of six kinds of real as stated above. Regarding the foundation of the universe Jainas say that there are only two types of entity-conscious (cetana or jiva) and the unconscious (acetana or ajiva). They do not agree with the idea that unconscious is born out of the conscious or that the conscious has evolved out of the unconscious. These two are the only fundamentals and are beginning-less as well as independent. These two fundamentals have been elaborated into the seven (somewhere nine) fundamentals52 - 1 jiva, 2 ajiva, 3 asrava, 4 bandha, 5 samvara, 6 nirjara, 7. moksa. Everything which exists in the universe is to be conceived as a modification or particular differentiation of either jiva or ajiva (jivaparyaya or ajivaparyaya). The modes of Reality or dravya which seem essential to the constitution of these two infinite and eternal attributes must themselves be infinite and eternal; they are distinguished by the Jainas as the immediate, infinite and eternal modes, as necessary and universal feature of the universe on the one hand and on the other hand descending to the finite modes, which are limited, perishing and transitory differentiations of