Book Title: Handbook of Jainology
Author(s): Bhuvanbhanusuri
Publisher: Divya Darshan Trust

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Page 79
________________ 10 WHO IS THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE? NOT GOD No God or any divine power has created the universe and is ruling over it. The universe is working on account of the Jivas and the Karmas. The Jiva carries out the endeavours and the Karmas help the Jiva in carrying out these endeavours. If we do not believe in this doctrine and if we believe that God is the creator of this universe, many unanswerable questions arise, such as (1) What benefit does God get by being caught in this mighty dilemma ? (2) Does he create only certain things? (3) God is said to be merciful. If we believe that God is the creator of this universe, does not the question arise why he created the things that cause sorrow to Jivas? (4) What is the physical form of God with which he carries out all this work? How was that form created? By whom was it created ? etc. When we think of the answers that can be given to these questions, we get a peculiar image of God. (1) If God carries out the task of creation and destruction without any purpose then it becomes a foolish game. (2) If he carries out this work as a game, he has to be deemed a child. (3) If he carries out all this work on account of his supreme grace he would have made all Jivas happy and he would have created things that would have given happiness to all. (4) It has been said that God is the supreme judge and that he has created the things that cause sorrow and misery to punish Jivas for their offences. Now this question crops up. God who is capable of doing all this is considered to be omnipotent and merciful. When that is so why does he allow the Jivas to commit sins and crimes, and why does he punish them for those sins and crimes? If some policemen keep silently and passively witnessing a murder when it is being committed then those policemen will also be guilty. Can we say that God is an offender? Or should it be thought that he does not have the power to prevent Jivas from committing crimes and sins or that he is without kindness. Apart from these, some other questions also crop up: (1) If God is creating and ruling over this universe from where does he carry out these actions?. (2) If God has a physical form, who 1 Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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