Facets of Jaina Religiousness in Comparative Light

Author(s): L M Joshi
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

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FACETS OF JAINA RELIGIOUSNESS
The general image of "the holy man" (arahanta, ariya, sävaka, thera, bhikkhu, samana, or brāhmaṇa) of Buddhist conception can be summed up in the following words. He is quiescent and engaged in meditation, steadfastly working for release from bonds; he shines in wisdom among the ignorant worldings; he his called sappurisa, good man, and pandita, learned; he gives up attachment to everything, and is not affected either by pleasure or by pain; he does not desire son, wealth or kingdom; he is virtuous, wise, and righteous; without clinging to anything, free from asravas and shining in purity, he is released while living in the world. He may be dressed gaily, if he is in peace, with passions subdued, and senses controlled, fixed on the path, pure in conduct, and has set aside violence, he is indeed a holy man, an ascetic, a monk. He is called a samana because he has extinguished all evil. A monk (bhikkhu) is he who has gone beyond good and evil, who is pure in conduct and who lives with understanding in this world. He is called muni who avoids evil and who understands. both worlds. He who is without craving and without grasping, who is skilled in language and its explanation, who knows the grouping of letters and their sequence, who is wearing his last body, he is known as a man of great wisdom (mahāpañño) and a great man (mahāpurisa). A holy man has both knowledge as well as meditation. He whose knowledge is profound, who is endowed with wisdom, who knows the right path and the wrong path, who has attained the excellent goal, he is called a holy man.128
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The Buddhas, Arhats, Bodhisattvas, Mahāśrāvakas or Mahästhaviras, are all revered as ācāryas and gurus in Buddhist tradition. The Pratyekabuddhas, however, do not teach nor establish an order of disciples. The long tradition of genealogy of teachers of different philosophical schools of Buddhism is known as the acarya-parampara, and great masters of Buddhist thought and authors of Sastras are usually remembered and venerated as ācāryas. They are venerated on account of their vast learning in the field of Tripitaka studies, ability to expound Sutras or Agamas, and also on account of their excellence in ethical culture and spiritual attainments. Besides monks, some householder Buddhists are also known as ācāryas in the sense of teachers of sacred scriptures. The main function of the Bodhisattvas is to carry on the work of the Buddha, that is to say, to train and lead people on the Path of Buddhahood. They are considered as great religious teachers and honoured as saviours and spiritual friends of living beings. Bodhisattva Vimalakirti of Vaisali represents this class of holy men who are outstanding for their religious and intellectual virtues and who combine the functions of the acarya, upadhyāya, sädhu and bodhisattva. 129
128.
129.
Dhammapada, vv. 23, 59, 83, 89. 142, 265, 269, 352, 372, and 403 (abridged).
See Vimalakirtinirdeśasutra, Tibetan version, Sanskrit restoration and Hindi translation prepared by Bhiksu Prasadika and L.M. Joshi, Sarnath: Central Institute of Tibetan Studies, 1981.