ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 04

Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

Page 45

thus see that Jains do not accept physical hardships like burning your body by exposing to sun or taking a holy dip in the river to wash sins etc as penance. Penance is classified in two groups namely external (i.e. those which are physical) and internal or psychic. Both are considered essential and one without the other is considered inadequate. In fact, the internal penance is the key but without observing external types of penance, the practitioner has little chance of successfully performing internal penance e.g. wise people (Cankya etc) say that students should not overeat so that they can concentrate on their studies. It is also a part of self-restraint. Penance causes dissociation of karmas like the fire burns a matter object. Penance in Jain philosophy is considered to be very harsh, specially the externa by othersl. Fasting, gaining self-control etc is so tough to others that even Buddha called his path as Madhayama m rga or the middle path between Jains and Vedanti s.
प्र
2.2. Non possession (aparigraha) /Giving up / Detachment. Elimination of bondage The word parigraha means pari (from all four sides) + graha (bind) i.e. the things or objects which bind us (soul) from all sides. Jains call it as infatuation (m rchh) or attachment / attraction. Tattvartha S tra says 'm rchh parigrahah i.e. the infatuation or attachment or a feeling of mine (and not me) in other objects (besides the soul) is possession. Mahavira in S trakrat ga calls bondage (bandha) as parigraha and cause of all our ills. Possession is described as of two types namely internal (4 passions namely anger, pride, greed and deceit and 9 secondary passions) and external. External are further classified as living beings (family, servants, animals etc.) and non-living beings (wealth, houses, cloths, ornaments etc.). Ascetics are asked to give up all types of possessions and become aparigrahi or nirgrantha while for laity, who are involved in worldly pursuits, the order is to limit their possessions according to needs without developing attachment with them.5
Apollonius Tyaneaus (Greek traveler 1st century CE) beautifully describes Jains as follows:
'In India, I found a race of mortals living upon the Earth, but not adhering to it; inhabiting cities, but not being fixed to them; possessing everything, but possessed by nothing.'
Spiritually speaking, it means that all bondages of soul, i.e. karmas of all types are to be eliminated so that the soul just becomes pure soul and enjoy its true nature i.e. bliss and knowledge (jn n nanda).
2.3 Multiplicity of viewpoints / Non absolutism / Anek nta
'Calam na caliye means the one who started moving has actually moved i.e. starting and partial completion of an activity takes place at the same moment. Utpadavyayadhrauvyayuktamsat i.e. reality consists of origination, decay and permanence simultaneously."
The above S tras form the foundation of the doctrine of Anek nta, the most important doctrine to enhance our understanding of the reality. They also depict the existence of pairs of opposite attributes co-existing e.g. origination and decay existing together, relativity i.e. origination and decay are related and not independent/absolute. An example will explain the concept of Anek nta.
There is a big tree and there are hundred cameramen, who are taking picture of the tree from different angles. We will find that no two pictures of the tree are exactly alike even though they all represent the same tree. Therefore to say that any one picture represents the whole tree is wrong while to say that it is also a part of the tree and related to other pictures is the correct one. So is the truth/ reality and our understanding of the same depends on the angle from which we look at it. M hav ra also used at least four viewpoints, namely space, time, substance and mode to answer any question put to Him (Ref Bhagavati, the fifth canonical limb of Jains). The three main principles of Anek nta are:
a. Co-existence:
Anything or anybody existent must have pairs of opposite attributes. Without the opposite, naming and characterization is impossible. The animate and the inanimate are two extremes, yet they coexist (the body is inanimate and the soul is animate). Similarly the speak-able and unspeakable,
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STUDY NOTES version 4.0