Hajarimalmuni Smruti Granth

Author(s): Shobhachad Bharilla
Publisher: Hajarimalmuni Smruti Granth Prakashan Samiti Byavar

Page 1016

T.G. Kalghatgi M.A., Ph.D. Reader in Philosophy, Karnatak University, Dharwar.
NATURE OF DIVINITY IN JAINA PHILOSOPHY
1. Introduction : Religion, as a way of life and not merely as an institution, has been natural to man. It is man's reaction to the totality of things as he apprehends it. It implies an interpretation of nature and the meaning of the universe. It seeks to go beyond the veil of visible things and finds an inexhaustible fund of spiritual power to help him in life's struggle. And the presence of God gave strength for man in his struggle in life. The ways of God to man and man to God have been rich and varied. It may be, as Prof. Leuba pointed out, that fear was the first of the emotions to become organised in human life, and out of this fear God was born. Perhaps love and gratitude are just as natural, as much integral parts of the constitution of man, as fear; and Gods were friendly beings. It is still possible that men have looked at Gods with a living sense of kinship and not with the vague fear of the unknown powers. We do not know. But one thing is certain that in higher religions fear is sublimated by love into an adoring reverence. From the fear of the Lord in The Old Testament to the worship of God 'with Godly fear and awe' is not a far cry.
In the Vedic period, we find a movement of thought from polytheism to monotheism and then to monism. The poetic souls contemplated the beauties of nature and the Indo-Iranian Gods, like Deus, Varuna, Uśas and Mitra were products of this age. Other Gods like Indra were created to meet the needs of the social and political adjustments. Many Gods were created; many Gods were worshipped. Then a weariness towards the many Gods began to be felt as they did dot know to what God they should offer oblations. Then a theistic conception of God as a creator of the universe was developed out of this struggle for the search for a divine being. In ancient Greece, Xenophanes was against the polytheism of his time. Socrates had to drink hemelock as he was charged of denying the national Gods. He distinguished between many Gods and the one God who is the creator of the universe. II. The Jaina arguments against God : But the Jainas were against Gods in general and even the God as creator. They presented several arguments against the theistic conception of God. They deny the existence of a
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