Jain Journal 2002 10

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

Page 23

JAIN JOURNAL: VOL-XXXVII, NO. 2 OCT, 2002
with the characteristics of the external objects as a result of the absence of true knowledge. The course of conduct prescribed by practical ethics is said to have only a secondary value as a probation for higher class. Bodily characteristics, instincts, and emotions and the various psychic states of the individual Self are all dismissed to be the result of the operation of the erroneous identification of the Self or Paramātmā." The self is established in his own pure svabhāva (nature) i.e. become Svayambhū. The empirical self, which is contaminated by the impure psychic dispositions of attachment, aversion, passions etc. due to erroneous identification with the body, senses and the mind, is transcended. In this transcendence one perceives only one, so much so that Amrtacandra, the Sanskrit commentator of Kundakunda's work Samayasara, in declaring that in such transcendental state all dualities disappear (bhāti na dvaitam eva),' sounds like a monist Vedāntin. Professor A. Chakravarti observes: “Thus without changing the words, Sankara's introduction may be considered to be a fitting introduction to Sri Kundakunda's Samayasāra”. The similarities between Sankara and Kundakunda would indicate that Sankara was well-acquainted with Kundakunda's philosophy either in the original or in the Sanskrit commentary by Amrtacandra.
While both Sankara and Kundakunda make use of the pāramārthika or niscaya and vyavahārika perspectives as the cornerstones of their philosophy, there is difference between the two. The pāramārthika view as advocated by Sankara negates the vyavahārika existence of other material and non-material objects of the world, which, in the view of the Jaina, have their own independent existence. Since Jainism recognizes multiple realities, while Advaita proceeds from the premise that there is only one reality, there are marked differences between the two systems.
According to Jainism, the reality is dualistic (the Universe consisting of Jiva and Ajīva) and pluralistic (the Ajīva being further classified into Pudgala (matter), Dharma (principle of motion), Adharma (principle of rest), Akāśa (space) and Kāla (time); yet considered from the point of view of one existence, it entails unity also. According to Kundakunda, in spite of the unique characteristics possessed by dif
6. Ibid. 7. Kundakunda, Samayasära, edited by Pannalal Sahityacharya (Varanasi :
Ganesh prasad Varni Granthmala), Amrtachandra's Kalash 9, p. 27. 8. Chakravarti, n. 3, p.105.