Doctrines of Jainism

Author(s): Vallabhsuri Smarak Nidhi
Publisher: Vallabhsuri Smarak Nidhi Godiji Jain Derasar Mumbai

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The Doctrines of the Jainas
prescribed vows. According to the Sutrakrtanga (1.12.4) the upholders of Vinayavada assert that the goal of religious life is realised by conformation to the rules of discipline.
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It is interesting to know the types of Kriyavada that do not come up to the standard of Jainism. The soul of a man who is pure, will become free from bad karma on reaching beatitude but in that state it will again become defiled through pleasant excitement or hatred.
If a man with the intention of killing a body hurts a gourd mistaking it for a baby, he will be guilty of murder. If a man with the intention of roasting a gourd roasts a baby, mistaking him for a gourd, he will not be guilty of murder. Mahavira holds that the painful condition of the self is brought about by one's own action and not by any other cause. Pleasure and pain are brought about by one's Own action. Individually a man is born, individually he dies, individually he falls and individually he rises. His passions, consciousness, intellect, perceptions and impressions belong to the individual exclusively. All living beings owe their present form of existence to their own karma. According to the Sutrakrtanga (1.12.15), the sinners cannot annihilate their work by new work; the pious annihilate their work by abstention from work. Karma consists of acts, intentional and unintentional, that produce effects on the nature of soul. The soul is susceptible to the influences of karma. The Jaina doctrine of nine terms (navatattva) developed from the necessity for a systematic exposition of kriyavada, which is in its essential feature only a theory of soul and karma. The categories of merit and demerit comprehend all acts, pious and painful, which keep the soul confined to the