Fundamentals Of Jainism

Author(s): Champat Rai Jain
Publisher: Veer Nirvan Bharti

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FUNDAMANTALS OF JAINISM
themselves in wisdom and faith. Hence, the earliest stages of the journey are necessarily those which mark the transition from the state of settled wrong convictions to the acquisition of true faith.
The next thing to be attended to is conduct without which it is not possible to realise the ideal in view. Hence the remaining guṇasthānas are the landmarks on the path of progress in respect of Right Conduct. The eighth and the ninth stages are also characterised by increased meditation, hence concerned in the advancement of knowledge; but to follow the teaching of the siddhanta on the still higher rungs of the ladder, it is necessary to remember that perfection in conduct means neither more nor less than the attainment of the state of desirelessness which is possible only with the complete eradication of all those traits which spring from desire.
Now, desire signifies greed, the immediate cause of deceitfulness. Greed also leads to pride by focussing attention on the
The causal connection between knowledge and faith, therefore, is to be found in the fact that rational faith pre-supposes some sort of intellectual enquiry or investigation, notwithstanding the fact that right knowledge is itself dependent on right faith. The dependence of right knowledge on right faith is evident in respect of those matters at least which fall outside the province of perception and reason; for such knowledge is a matter of testimony, and depends on the word of the Teacher, which cannot be acceptable to those who have yet to evolve out the right faith. It would thus appear that knowledge and faith are to some extent dependent on each other; knowledge leading to right faith in the first instance, and right faith giving rise to right knowledge in the end.
The dependence of right knowledge on right darsana implies that no true insight can be had into the nature of things without it. It is not to be supposed that there is no difference whatever between the knowledge of a man endowed with right faith and of him who is involved in mithyâtva. There is, no doubt, a superficial resemblance between their ideas, to some extent, but that is confined to the surface of things. For instance, they may both know consciousness to be the distinguishing feature of life, but it is the true believer alone who also knows it to be an independent reality, eternal, undying and capable of enjoying the freedom and joy of Gods. This knowledge is not shared by the other man, who is, consequently, debarred from striving to obtain the bliss and blessedness pertaining to divinity, since no one ever tries for that which he does not know or believe to be attainable, or true.