Introduction to Jainsim

Author(s): Dewan Bahadur A B Lathe
Publisher: Jain Mitra Mandal

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JAINISM
it is Budha (as awakened), as it is also Christ as the teacher of right that are raised to the universal adoration of men and animals. Even the Twenty-four Teerthankars of every age in the unending and unbegun series of ages, do not command our reverence as being Shri Vrishabha or Shri Vardhamana or any so and so. It is every Jin as such that is our God and more than a God. A Jin is not a particular personality or even a cut and dry principle; it is an eminence of position attained by illimitable excellence in knowledge, conduct, joy, etc. Every soul may aspire to reach it by a long series of lives in which it may free itself from the trammels of worldly action. And whoever succeeds in this-the path of success is sure though slow and clear though difficult-may command our reverent homage. It is in this spirit of adoring whatever is best, wherever it may be found, that the Acharya Akalanka offers his salutation to बुद्धवा वर्द्धमानं शतदलनिलयम् केशवं वा शिवम् वा, The faith which a Jain is asked to lay in his God, his Scriptures and his Preceptor is also of a very logical nature. The faith of Jainism is the faith in truth (Samyaktva) and it is only faith as long as the knowledge of truth has not realized it into Absolute Wisdom. The Jain faith is only provisionally blind-nay, it is never blind, it is opposed to sight and is a vague appreciation of truth as a result of past ages of ever developing knowledge. It is not the usual bhakti or the feeling of worship; but it is an insight (darshan) into the truths of the universe that is itself accountable in every detail and is destined to be justified by increased knowledge or the widened circle of lignt. A very illustrative instance as to how their insight works may be found in the faith which the Jain Shashtras dictate. Our acceptance of those scriptures relies on their being proved to be "impossible to be transgressed" if freedom for the soul is wished for and also to be "fully consistent with what is seen and desired." A stricter test than