Book Title: Facets of Jain Philosophy Religion and Culture
Author(s): Shreechand Rampuriya, Ashwini Kumar, T M Dak, Anil Dutt Mishra
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

Previous | Next

Page 28
________________ The Axioms of Non-absolutism 11 Gautama addressed to the upholders of heterodox doctrines. “We never, O beloved of gods ! speak of being as non-being and non-being as being. We affirm being of the concept 'everythings exists' (sarvam asti) and non-being of the proposition ‘nothing exists' (sarvam năsti). The implication is that being is true as being and non-being is true as non-being. In other words, being and non-being are both real. It is interesting to note here that it is exactly these two propositions which were advanced by two rival Buddhist schools viz., the sarvāstivādins and the Mädhyamika sünyavādins. 12 The implication of the above dialogue is the rejection of absolute being and absolute non-being, and acceptance of the synthesis of the two as concrete aspects of an entity. Being and non-being are also explained as possessed of their definite place and value in the above dialogue. The Concomitance of the Permanent and the Impermanent 'Is it true, O Lord!', asked Gautama, 'that the unstable changes while the stable does not change, the unstable breaks whereas the stable does not break?' “Yes, Gautama! This is exactly so.??3 A substance is the co-existence of the unwavering and the wavering, the stable and the unstable. It is immutable and mutable both. The soul is immutable and as such it never changes into non-soul. It is also mutable and as such it passes through various forms of existence. This is explained in the following dialogue between Manditaputra and the Lord. Manditaputra: 'Is it true, O Lord ! that the soul is constantly subject to wavering and as a result it passes through various states ?' Lord : 'Yes, Manditaputra ! This is true.'14 The same has been said to be true of a material atom which has been regarded as an ever-changing entity in Jainism.15 12. Ibid, 7.217. tae nam se bhagavam goyame te annauttthie evam vayasi-no khalu vayam devānuppia ! atthi bhāyam natthi tti vadāmo, natthi bhāvam atthi tti vadāmo. amhe nam devānuppiya! savvam atthi bhāvam atthi tti vadāmo, savvam natthi bhavam natthi tti vadamo. 13. Ibid, 1.440. se nūņam bhante ! athire palottai, no thire palottai ? athire bhajjai, no thire bhajjai?-- hantā goyamā ! athire palottai, no thire palottai. athire bhajjai, no thire bhajjai---- 14. jive nam bhante ! sayā samitam eyati, veyati, calati, phandai, ghattai, khubbhai, udirai, tam tam bhāvam parinamai ? hantā mandiaputtā! jīve nam sayā samitam eyati tam tam bhāvam parinamai. 15. Ibid, 7. 150.

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 ... 400