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Kundakunda: The Samayasāra 297 'heretic'; that is to say, for Hindus it is 'one who falsely assumes the characteristics of an orthodox Hindu' (i.e. a Jaina, a Buddhist, etc.). On first consideration therefore, this would seem to be a term of denigration referring to non-Jaina ascetics (or even to non-Jains in general). Gāthā 411 (= JGM 441), however, uses anagara (literally, 'homeless', and so mendicant or ascetic) as a synonym for pāsamdiya, and anagāra is a standard term for a Jaina ascetic. This may be an example of older verses taking on new meanings in a new context, for gāthā 409 (439) makes it clear that all linga are to be abandoned. In other words, the Samayasāra is not simply making a distinction here between Jaina ascetics and everybody else (perhaps the original meaning of 408 [438]), but between everybody else (lay people and ascetics) and those who have attained kevala-jñāna, the Arhats (see 409 [439], above). This is supported by the Ātmakhyāti on 414 (444) which refers to two kinds of dravyalinga, divided between Jaina ascetics and their lay followers, 35 both of which are vyavahāra views and to be abandoned in favour of the linga-less niścaya view which is the ultimate truth (paramārtha) (see 414 [444] and Ātmakhyāti).
Crucially, the purpose of this passage is not primarily descriptive but injunctive: those addressed are likewise enjoined to give up all linga (i.e. attachment to linga) and thus attain liberation. But who are those addressed? Clearly, they are advanced ascetics who are being urged on by Kundakunda to arhatship, kevala-jñāna and liberation. They are linked by gāthā 414 (=JGM 444) with the niscaya view, i.e. the view that the self in its svabhāva cannot be touched by matter and therefore cannot be bound. So even attachment to ascetic conduct is classified as the product of a vyavahāra view and does not lead one to the highest religious goal. Only self-knowledge - self-realisation - can do that.
35 śramanaśramanopāsakabhedena dvividham dravyalingam - Ātmakhyāti on Samayasāra 414 (444).
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