Illuminator of Jaina Tenets

Author(s): Tulsi Acharya
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

Page 33

INTRODUCTION
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stored up in the mind and become effective at the proper moment, even as the past impressions can give rise to the memory of a past event in the present.
It should be noted here that the Indian thinkers generally did not believe in the Darwinian theory of evolution. But it was accepted by them all that the instincts of fear, anger, greed, food, sex, etc., constituted the inheritance derived from past life. Another important aspect, namely, the possibility of improvement on the inherited behaviour also received the attention of Indian thinkers. Sometimes such improvement was effected by circumstances attending one's birth, but it could also be achieved by means of medicine, mantra, penances and meditation.
In the modern science of genetics, the question of improving mankind has received careful consideration We quote below, from the article on "Heredity" in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, an extract dealing with the problem..
“Man is the only organism on earth who is aware that he is a product, and even the crowning achievement so far, of the evolutionary process. The past evolution was a product of natural selection, a certain pattern of blind forces of nature Can man gather enough knowledge and enough wisdom to substitute for these blind forces a conscious control of the ongoing evolution of mankind ? The central idea of eugenics is that such a control is feasible Negative eugenics is primarily directed toward elimination of hereditary defects and diseases, in other words, toward control of the genetic load of mankind. Positive eugenics favours increasing the frequencies of superior hereditary endowments. Mankind, like any other biological species, has carried a genetic load since the dawn of time. It is claimed, however, that civilized living, technology, medicine, maintenance of the genetically handicapped, etc, increase man's genetic load.
"A variety of proposals have been advanced to decrease the genetic load, or at any rate to check its increase. It is evident that one way to decrease the frequency of mutation is by avoiding all unnecessary exposure to high-energy radiations and other mutagens. Genetic
1 Cf. YD, IV. 9 : jāti-deśa-kāla-vyavahitānām apyānantaryam smstisamskārayor
ekarūpatvāt. See also the Bhāşya. 2 YD. IV. 1. There are manifold processess of the spiritual energy that can transform
the effects of the past karman, vide Studies in Jaina Philosophy, pp. 254 ff.