Jain Journal 1970 07

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

Page 31

Nihnavas
(Doubts in Jaina Texts)
BASISTHA NARAYAN SINHA
The word nihnavas, which is a combination of the root hņu with a prefix ni and suffix ap may stand for concealment (gopana), denial (asviksti), disbelief (aviśvāsa), doubt (sandeha), etc. In Jaina texts, the word has mostly been used to signify a doubt raised by a disciple or a follower against some aspect of an original tenet as established by his leader or teacher and only very sparingly it has been used to singify the doubter himself. In the former sense, we find seven kinds of ninhavas mentioned in the Sthānāřga Sūtra as follows : bahurata jivapradesika, avyaktadrsti, samuccheda, dvikriyā, trairāśika and abaddhika.
1. Bahurata—This doubt was raised fourteen years after Mahavira's enlightenment by one of his disciples, Jamali, who found that almost nothing could be done in a moment and that most things needed more than a moment to be completed. So one should not say that
has been done or completed till it was really so. The thing which is in the process of being done, is not actually done till the process has received its final touch. On this basis, Jamali refuted the philosophical principles propounded by Lord Mahavira, viz., that a thing in the process of being done should be considered as already done. This confusion has been discussed at length in the Bhagavati Sūtrai and in the end it has been conceded that the theory propounded by Mahavira is based on the niscaya naya while the doubt raised by Jamali stands on the vyavahāra nava. As per niscava naya, a thing is considered to be actually finished as soon as it is planned, decided and taken on hand though not yet brought to its completion, while vyavahāra naya does not consider a thing to be completed till it is really finished.
2. Jivapradesika-Jivapradeśika is the doubt raised by Tisyagupta, one of the disciples of Acarya Vasu 16 years after Mahavira's enlightenment. As Tisyagupta declared, only the last portion or element of the body should be named as jīva because it completed the whole body which was the dwelling place of a jiva. According to the original theory, all parts of a body had the same importance because in the absence of any of them, the body remained incomplete. Acarya Vasu tried his best to 1 Dr. Hiralal Jain, Bharatiya Samskrti-me Jain Dharam-ka Yogdan, p. 30.
Bhairudan Sethia, Bol-samgraha, Part II, p. 342, Bol 561. Bhagavati Sutra, Sataka 1, Uddesaka 1, Sutra 7.