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14
ETHICAL DOCTRINES IN JAINISM
NECESSITY OF PARTIAL CONDUCT: To revert to our point. It is astonishing that in spite of not being the part of conduct in any way, the aforementioned vicious deeds refuse to be completely relinquished at the start on account of their being ingrained in the mind of man. Hence, there arises the concept of limited morality technically called Vikala Cāritra (partial conduct) in contrast to absolute morality known as Sakala Căritra (complete conduct) wherein these vicious deeds are completely renounced. He who observes the former, being not able to renounce the vices to the full, claims the title of a 'layman'; while he who observes the latter, being able to hold the spirit of renunciation to the brim, is called a 'Muni'. We shall now confine ourselves to the former, deferring the consideration of the latter to the subsequent chapter.
PRIVILEGED POSITION OF MAN: The ethics of the Jaina answers to his metaphysical findings, which point to an infinite number of independent souls and an infinite number of material particles together with the other principles already discussed. Of the infinite number of conscious principles varying from the one-sensed to the five-sensed, man alone is recognised as the terminus of evolution. In other words, only man is capable of unfolding his potential attributes perfectly. To express it differently, though every soul is potentially divine, yet the attainment of freedom is rendered possible only when the soul achieves a human form; hence the importance of human birth.
PHILOSOPHY OF RENUNCIATION: Animate and inanimate objects are not in themselves auspicious and inauspicious. They are called auspicious and inauspicious, when they are considered in relation to the mundane souls. They very often wield influence over, and react upon, the mundane souls to the extent of engendering either mild passions or intense passions in the structure of self. In other words, the mild or intense passions which arise owing to the Karmic accompaniment gratify their subtle persuasion in hankering after particular types of objects. Intense passion is vice, and mild passion is virtue.2 To illustrate, Bhakti is a mild passion, but lustful thought and voluptuousness is an intense passion. Because of this parallelism between the outward objects and the inward psychical states, the renunciation of extraneous objects assists in destroying corresponding intense passions. If the
1 Ratna. Grāva. 50.
2 Kärtti. 90.
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