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JAIN JOURNAL: Vol-XXXVI, No. 1 July 2001 group, as he also like the latter does not recognize the Vedas as sacred scriptures, denies the existence of God, maintains that divinity lies potentially in a man, and it is man who reaches the greatest heights of perfection, freedom, bliss through his own efforts. Both attach immense value to Ahimsā or non-violence in moral discipline in general and in conduct in particular, and include truth speaking and non-stealing in the rules of conduct. It is in the field of ethics that there striking similarities and also sharp differences in their preaching. Both accept asceticism in the sense of removal of all desire through strenuous will and effort. But there is an essential and significant difference between the two on the nature and extent of asceticism, the one prescribed by Mahävira being of the extreme nature to the extent of even selfmortification. The Buddha, however, advocates the middle path, and is emphatic that self-mortification is incapable of leading to liberation as self-indulgence and thus unworthy of pursuit.5
Jainism is a paradigm among the Indian philosophical schools, which prescribe strict and rigid austerities. At first, the ascetic should keep the five vows (urata): (1) not to injure any living being (a-himsā); (2) to be truthful (satya), i.e. not to lie; (3) not to steal (a-steya), i.e. not to take what is not given; (4) to lead a celibate life (brahma-carya), i.e. to preserve chastity; and (5) to renounce pleasure in all external things (a-parigraha). In the case of the laymen they are nearly the same, the last two being moderated. Of the various virtues to be cultivated by the Jains, non-injury (a-himsā) was regarded as the most essential one. Jainism carries the doctrine of non-injury of living creatures to an extreme not otherwise paralleled in Indian religions.6
To put in a nutshell, the teachings of Jainism are only this : man is not only a bundle matter in the form of flesh and blood, he is also a soul. In reality, the soul is the man himself; the body is only a prison in which the soul is embodied. All living beings are souls. Souls are immortal. They are composed of a simple substance, which is not matter; but which is found to exist in association with matter and this association is exceedingly harmful for the soul. Thereby it is deprived of its natural attributes in a greater or lesser degree. Its natural attributes include immortality, omniscience or unlimited knowledge, and bliss. If the soul were set free from the clutches of matter, it would enjoy all its natural perfection, and as this will only be attained after the destruction of the causes of the coming together of the soul
5.
Nilima Chakravarty: 'Indian Philosophy, the Pathfinders and the System Builders (700 BC to 100 AD): Allied Publishers Limited, New Delhi, 1992. pp. 78-79. Nakamura, op.cit., p. 172.
6.
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