Jain Journal 1966 10

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 13

OCTOBER, 1966
dualism must in its turn and finally be resolved in a monism". The word 'interdependent' has done the whole havoc here. What the Jainas have conceived is, to my mind, not an interdependence between a jiva and an ajiva but a sheer contact which itself is timeless and which results in karma, rebirth, etc., in brief, in all experiences conceived in the term 'paryāya'. This contact is terminable by a conscious effort on the part of the jiva which when effective makes the jiva free and restores it to its pristine purity and divinity. The Jaina logic which deals with relativity and plurality thus stands on an invincible foundation. It is an utter misrepresentation of the Jaina logic and a total misrepresentation of the Jaina view to suggest that since all ajīvas are identical and since they are interdependent (in the sense of being inseparable), they, the jiva and ajiva, can all be jumbled up into an imaginary absolute.
The Jaina view does not believe in God nor does it recognise any divine providence at whose mercy the creation is. In the Jaina view, every soul is divine in its own right. The deviation from the original Godness is the outcome of a contact which itself is separable by conscious effort. It does not believe in creation because creation presupposes a creator and a time-span. What is more, the liberated soul does not lose its identity even after it becomes free. If thus Jainism has escaped from the clutches of a transcendental reality which pervades most other religions, it is not also a victim to the law of causality which engulfs even modern sciences. In so far as the Jainas say that the soul can liberate itself, not by divine mercy, but by its own effort, it is more than anti-deterministic. To a Jaina 'God' and 'liberated soul' are interchangeable terms. Let one not bother about a God above or an external God which may or may not exist; but God within is sure and certain. This God is attainable. Let one attain it or at least strive for its attainment.
1 Cf. ekamsena sthito jagat, Gita, 10/42.
2 This is not only true of Hinduism but also of Christianity and Islam among the major religions of the world, though the idea varies in details from one religion to another.
8 M. Hiriyanna, Outlines of Indian Philosophy; Popular Essays in Indian Philosophy.
4 The old statement quoted by Hiriyanna is :
asravo bhava hetu syat sambaro moksa karanam itiyam arhati drstiranyadasyah prapancanam.
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5 S. Radhakrishnan, Indian Philosophy, Vol. I.