Book Title: Gandharavada
Author(s): Esther A Solomon
Publisher: Gujarat Vidyasabha

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Page 269
________________ 180 (i) Punya alone can explain pleasure and pain, and so it would be superfluous to recognise the reality of pāpa. As punya goes on increasing there is increase in pleasure and good and when punya reaches its height it gives rise to the pleasure of heaven. As it goes on declining, decreasing, pleasure also decreases and pain increases and when the the least possible punya is left it results in the pain of hell. But if punya is completely destroyed, there is mokṣa or emancipation. The case is similar to that of wholesome food. The more one partakes of it, the more healthy and strong one becomes, but by gradually giving it up health starts disappearing and a person becomes unhealthy; and when it is completely abandoned a person dies; similarly when there is no punya, there is mokṣa or liberation from this world. Thus pāpa does not figure at all as the cause of pain and hence punya alone is real (1909). (ii) Those who recognise the reality of pāpa . alone give the analogy of unwholesome food. The more one partakes of it, the more prone to disease one becomes. So also as pāpa increases, one suffers more and more pain, and when it reaches its climax one experiences the greatest posible pain viz. that of hellish beings. But as pāpa declines, there is decrease of pain and gradual increase of pleasure or happiness and when pāpa is at its lowest ebb there is the pleasure of heaven, exactly as by decreasing the quantity of unwholesome food there is more and more of health and less of disease. When unwholesome food is completely given up there is the gain of perfect health, so when pāpa is completely eradicated one attains emancipation or mokşa. Pápa alone can explain pleasure and pain; punya is superfluous (1910). (iii) Punya and pāpa are not distinct, but are one entity. Different colours form one variegated colour-pattern; the mecaka-maņi with many colours is but one; bearing the forms of man and lion, Narasimha is but one; so there is only one entity which bears the names punya and pāpa. When the proportion of pāpa goes up that same thing is called pāpa, and when the punya-element increases, it is called punya (1911). Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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