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Jaina Concept of Person
-A Textual Study of 'Samayasara' of Acarya Kundaknnda -
B. Vincent Sekhar
System - A Pluri Form of Experience :
Every system of thought starts with a concrete world of experience. But in the course of intense investigation each has its point of departure. Yet all systems accept certain principles in common, like for instance, the recognition of distinction between organic and inorganic beings. There is something called the 'Life-Principle that animates the organic structure.
A General Assessment of the Jaina Concept of Person :
Like many other systems, the Jainas believe in two fundamental principles called jiva and ajīva, living and non-living entities. Jiva is a general term for all living beings, both liberated as well as bound. Human beings or persons form only one category of the souls that are bound. This conception implies that persons have in themselves the inherent capacity to realize their immense potentiality, of abundant knowledge, intuition, power and bliss. It also suggests that persons are sparks of the Divine, not in an external sense of the term as 'out somewhere' but having almost an invisible residence in oneself. The truth is that every living organism is equal in its true intrinsic but each is bound to enjoy only its limited portions of power and glory due to the different degrees of sense perception. Persons are capable of going beyond their sense experience to intuit directly, what may be called 'clairvoyance' 'telepathy' and even the capacity of 'all-knowing'.
Among the number of sources wherein we read and understand the nature of jiva and the formation of karma on the basis of the bondage between jiva and ajiva, Kundakunda's Samayasāra is an acceptable treatise among the different Jaina sects. He is an unquestioned authority on Jaina dogmas.
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