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Kundakunda: The Pravacanasāra 169 that is called possession on the authority of the spiritual lore. [Pravacanasāra 3:17b & 3:17c]93
In terms of doctrine these gāthās are probably closer to the Tattvārtha Sūtra, and its concern with kaşāya, than to Kundakunda's upayoga doctrine; i.e. prima facie, internalisation of himsā takes a different theoretical channel here. However, the redefinition of himsā by the collation of the elements of the first and the fifth mahāvratas (ahimsā and aparigraha),94 and the further equation of parigraha and mūrcchā, brings us back to moha as the agent of bondage. Thus it is infatuation (mūrcchā / moha), stemming from a mistake about the jīva's relationship to matter, which causes adherence to physical objects (parigraha), and so physical or 'external' himsā. "Internal' himsā, harm to oneself, is the mental state of 'infatuation', external harm merely the indicator of that internal state, and
93 Cf. Upadhye's trans. On iriyāsamida, Sk. iriyāsamiti, see TS 9:5 and SS; J.L. Jaini 1940, p.134; Schubring 1962, para. 173. Faddegon [Kundakunda (3), p. 201) gives the second half-verse of 3:17c a very different translation, viz. '... just as acceptance of swooning also is regarded according (as it is due) to (concentration) on the self. That is to say, swooning, and thus causing himsā by falling, has no binding effect when it is the result of meditation practice. However, although it is possible for mucchāpariggaho (Sanskrit: mūrcchāparigraha) to mean 'acceptance of swooning', in this context the interpretation seems strained. Given the close association of mūrcchā and parigraha in Jaina theory (see TS 7:17 and SS, where they are defined as equivalent), Upadhye's reading appears to be the correct one here. Moreover, the stress in these gāthās is clearly upon what Upadhye calls the 'mental condition', referring to which, his translation contains a footnote that is worth quoting in full:
'Himsā is not merely prāņa-vyaparopaņa, but pramatta-yogāt prāņa-vyaparopanam (TS. VII, 13). It is passions, negligent and careless channels of activities etc., that matter most; it is the mental condition, rather than the visible act, that is of utmost importance. For instance, parigraha does not so much consist in having physical contact with external objects as being infatuated with them' (Upadhye fn. 1, p. 26 on 3:17*1-2).
94 See above.
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