Jain Journal 1968 04

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

Page 87

APRIL, 1968
231
The trio of night attitude, right knowledge and right conduct constitutes, according to the Jainas, the pathway to final emancipation' Right attitude or samyag-darsana is the predilection or love for truth Every soul has such predilection in some measure But unless and until it develops into a self-conscious pursuit of truth, it does not help spiritual progresss It is only at the stage of self-conscious effort for spiritual advancement that this love of truth is called samyag-darsana After the acquisition of this characteristic the soul passes through a number of stages of spiritual development, technically known as gunasthānas The attainment of right attitude (samyag-darsana) is followed by the attainment of night knowledge (samyag-ñana) and right conduct (samyagcaritra) The soul acquires more and more power for self-concentration (dhyāna) along with the increase of its purity and consequent attainment of the corresponding stages of spiritual development It is generally believed that the Jainas, from the very outset, put their whole stress on physical austerity and more or less neglected the aspect of meditation and self-concentration But this belief is not true Physical austerity is only an index of spiritual detachment: The identification of the soul with the body is the root evil to be got rid of And this is possible only if one practises detachment from the body The natural consequence of this practice of detachment is indifference towards it. The practice of detachment is incompatible with the care of its well-being The works of Acarya Kundakunda, Pujyapada and Jinabhadra contain elaborate instructions in self-meditation and concentration of mind The works of Haribhadra record a number of different doctrines of yoga and their comparative evaluation The Jñānārnava of Subhacandra and the Yogaśāstra of Hemacandra are valuable works on yoga Upadhyaya Yasovijaya revived the study of Haribhadra's works on yoga. The Jaina mind was always conscious of the efficacy of meditation for the achievement of final emancipation But it abhorred the acquisition of supernormal powers by means of the yogic processes Self realisation was the only aim to be fulfilled by yoga
knowledge goes, only Haribhadra who defined the term yoga in the sense of *what leads one to emancipation for the first time in the history of Jaina thought. (cf mukkhena joyanao jogo savyo v dhammavavaro, Yogavimsika, karika, 1) This meaning of the term 18 unanimously accepted in the post-Haribhadra Jaina literature. Of course, the term yoga was used in the general sense of subduing the senses and the mind and the processes of concentration and ecstasy even in the earlier stages of the Jaina thought as well as in the early Buddhist thought But the terms Jhana (dhyana) and samadhi were more in vogue than the term yoga It is only in the Yogasutra of Patanjalt that we find the proper location of dhyana in the whole process called yoga for the first time.
* Tatyartha Sutra, I 1 . Samantabhadra, Brhatsvayambhustotra, 83