Jain Digest 2002 07 Vol 21 No 03

Author(s): Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA

Page 22

DARSHANÄCHÄR, THE CODE OF RIGHT PERCEPTION
Doubtlessness, absence of expectation, unflinching faith, not being unduly influenced, adoration and encouragement, stabilization, affection and creating favorable impression are the eight aspects of Darshanächär.
The term Darshan has different connotation. For a common man, Darshan would mean a scene, a devotional glance, bowing to some deity etc. For others, it would mean an ideology. Here, the term is not used in any of those senses. For our present purpose, Darshan denotes perception, faith, conviction and realization. These four aspects convey an increasing level of Darshan. When a person knows something, he may tend to believe it. That is termed as perception. Then he has to gain the faith. For instance, we come to know from books or teachers that soul is everlasting and we try to believe it as such. But so long as we are not convinced of that nature, our perception of soul remains vague. For gaining conviction, we have first to keep faith in the concept. The faith would easily arise, if what has been learnt has come from the reliable sources. Contemplating and pondering over the same with faith would bring the conviction and thereafter comes the realization. Such realization is true Samyagdarshan or the right perception.
The code, that lays down the method of gaining the right perception, is called Darshanächär. Jainism lays down the following eight aspects thereof, 1) staying above all doubts, 2) absence of expectations, 3) unflinching faith, 4) not to be influenced or swayed by glamorous shows etc., 5) adoration and encouragement, 6) stabilizing the faith of others, 7) affection for the co-religionists and 8) raising esteem of the true faith. Of these eight, the first one, which denotes the conviction, is of utmost importance. The remaining seven, which are helpful in heightening the intensity of conviction, can rather be considered augmentary. Let us now examine the eight aspects one after another.
1) The first is called Nissankiya or Nihishankitva. Some people interpret it as not raising any doubt about the scriptural precepts. The term really means conviction beyond any doubt. When a person comes to know about soul or something else. he might feel some doubt about it. This aspect therefore lays down that one should know it thoroughly so that no doubt lingers about it. For that purpose, Jainism lays down the following five stages.
The first stage is known as Vächanä, The learning from the books or from the teachers is termed as Vächanä, The second stage is known as Pruchchhanä. It means asking the questions and supplementary questions pertaining to what has been learnt so as to know
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Panchächär Sutra
the truth from different angles. The third stage is known as Parävartanä. It means learning repeatedly so as to gain the lasting impact. The fourth stage is known as Anuprekshä. It means reflecting, contemplating and pondering over what has been learnt so as to make out its underlying meaning. The fifth stage is known as Dharmakathä. It means relating in writing or by orally narrating what has been learnt. When a person goes through these five stages, he can gain thorough knowledge. He does not then harbor any doubt about it.
2) The second aspect is Nikkankhiya or Nihikänkshitva. It means not to expect any material gain. Most of the people may try to gain knowledge that would be helpful in getting worldly benefit. The study of different subjects undertaken in schools and colleges at present falls in the category of expectation. That is undertaken with a view to gain proficiency, which would make the student better marketable. That may be all right for gaining the worldly success. We are, however, concerned here with the spiritual aspect. It therefore needs to be remembered that as long as one retains any worldly expectation, his knowledge and perception are bound to remain shallow. That shallowness would not help in gaining the inner insight, that is required for the right perception.
3) The third aspect is Nivitigichchhä or Nirvichikitsä. It means the unflinching faith and the absence of wavering mind. The true conviction does denote the absence of wavering. This aspect is, however, separately stipulated, because even after gaining conviction, a person may come across some new knowledge or information that may be at variance with what he has learnt. That may tend to waver his mind. He may then not feel sure whether what he has learnt is right or wrong. This aspect therefore stipulates having firm faith in what one has learnt.
The term also has one additional significance. Jain monks may be unclad and if they are clad, their clothing may not be neat or clean. As such, one may have a sense of disgust or disaffection by looking at such clad or unclad monks. The spiritual aspirant has, however, to realize that outward cleanliness is not the criterion for internal purity. Since the monks are expected to have gained internal purity, there is no reason for being disaffected by their out