Jain Journal 1968 01

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

Page 40

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JAIN JOURNAL
to conduct oneself according to the rules and prohibitions laid down by the Tirthankaras. The ajñā is not here his order, but the path by following which he himself made his own spiritual progress.
How the act is accomplished by bhakti (devotion)? The Lord does not make any effort for the devotee, but just as the lion-cub living in the herd of sheep recognises its lion-hood by the sight of an outsider lion, just so the devotee also recognises his Lordship by the visio the nature of the Lord. The Lord has been accepted as the efficient cause in this sense that the knowledge of his nature becomes helpful in the attainment of knowledge of its own state of supreme spirit. For this reason Lord Mahavira has been invoked by the words 'Niryāmaka', 'gopa'15, etc. Really speaking, ahimsā (non-violence), the spiritual values of life of beings, is the greatest form of bhakti in Jainism.
The study of Jainadharma with the aspects of cāritra (karma), darśana=śraddhā (bhakti) reveals that it is nivịttimulaka (having an objective of ceasing from the worldly acts), but it is not absolutely devoid of pravrtti (activity), pravștti (activity) however being nivịttilakši directed towards the cessation of worldly activities. From the time of Rsabhadeva, the first Tirthankara, upto the present day the nivșttigāmin Jainadharma samskrti has survived in any way, not merely on the strength of nivịtti but on the wholesome pravịtti (activity) also. In the Jaina tradition the first place is given to the renouncer of the worldly life and the second to the house-holder. The observance of the five great vows (pañca mahāvratas) is incumbent on the renouncer of the world. That is the first condition for creating capacity for activity in generating good quality or good quality-nourishing activity (pravịtti) to the fullest extant. Twelve aņuvratas (lesser vows) have been prescribed for the man who does not have the capacity to observe the five vows (pañca mahāyratas) so that he can come up to the path of nivștti by stages.
And finally on jñāna which is the universal beacon-light, he said :
What is tattva? Jiva (soul), ajīva (non-soul), āsrava (influx), bandha (bondage), nirjarā (dissociation of karma) and mokşa (liberation) are the tattvas (realities)16 in Jainism. The universe is a system of reals, all inter-related with one another from the points of view of dravya (substance), kşetra (field), kāla (time) and bhāva (condition), having a unity comprising the plurality of interdependent and inter-connected substances. Dravya (substances) means Reality characterised by sat (existence)??, endowed with guna (quality or capacity) and paryāya (mode)18