Jain Journal 1995 10

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

Page 19

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JAIN JOURNAL : Vol-XXX, No. 2. October 1995
in consuousness and stonish in physical appearance. It is not merely a stone or a boulder of earth. A soul sometimes assumes the animal form also, but thereby it does not become purely an embodied animal. To assume a bodily form is merely the putting of an apparel, it is not its nature. With regard to the 6th and 7th questions, it will be sufficient to say that stone or earth is not the doer of karmas, rather it is the soul, which is embodied therein, which is the doer of karmas, Inspite of its embodiment, the soul and the body are as distinct from each other as milk and water are. Just as water and milk when mixed togther look as one and the same, but in reality water is water and milk is milk i. e. in their speciality both of them are separate entities. Similarly though a soul in its one-sensed mineral state, owing to the bondage of karmas looks like an inanimate stone, yet in reality the soul is soul and it retains its separate entity, for in that state also it experiences the urges of the instincts of hunger, sex, fear and accumulation which are invisible to a naked eye.
8. NATURE OF DHARMA (RELIGION). Q-What is the Ārya Dharma or the sublime religion? Is it right to say
that almost all the religions have originated from the Vedas? A.-1. While describing Arya Dharma, almost all Faiths claim to be
the "Ārya Dharma", the Buddhists declare Buddhism to be so and the Vedantis name the Vedanta as such. Thus it has become a common thing, but for the wise the "Ārya Dharma" is that spiritual path which leads one to self-realisation. It is indeed the
Arya Dharma or the sublime religion. 2. It does not seem possible that almost all the religions originated
from the Vedas. The reason for this, as I understand, is that the knowledge propounded by the Tirthankaras and other Teachers is far greater than that found in the Vedas. And this makes me to conclude that a perfect thing cannot be born from a limited one. Therefore it is not reasonable to presume that almost all religions originated from the Vedas. Vaisnavism, and others are, of course, certain religions which might have originated from the Vedas. No doubt the Vedas existed long before Mahāvīra and Buddha, the last propounders of Jainism and Buddhism, and we may grant a still greater antiquity to them, but this fact alone does not establish the suggested proposition, because time and truth do not go hand in hand. There is no logic in saying that whatever is antique is perfect and true, and whatever is new is imperfect and untrue. As a matter of fact, everything in its essence is eternat, but is subject to modification. There is nothing which