Jain Journal 2013 07

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

Page 50

Book Review Dr. Anupam Jash
Jaina Psychology: An Introduction, Mohanlal Mehta, Varanasi Parshvanath Vidyapeeth, 2002, p.p. xii+220, Rs. 120/
The Jaina system is an important school of classical Indian philosophy. The Jainas have developed a separate philosophy, which is quite distinct and independent from all others, and is regarded as a valuable contribution to Indian philosophy. One remarkable thing in this connection is that, like the other thinkers of India, the Jaina philosophers have contributed to the field of Indian psychology. Jaina philosophers have developed their psychological investigations on the foundations of the Doctrine of Karma. The present book discusses the psychological analysis of some of the salient features of the Jaina doctrine of karma, and it was altogether a new attempt in this direction. This valuable book sets out to fill this gap by offering a concise presentation of Jaina psychology in English.
This book aims to construct some of the fundamentals of Jaina psychology on the foundations of the Jaina doctrine of karma and to present the account in such a manner as to make the presentation interesting and intelligible to the reader who seeks to know what the Jaina thinkers tell about the nature of human mind, knowledge and its origination, feeling and emotion, activity and its control, and the like.
An attempt has also been made to critically compare the Jaina analysis of different psychological problems with the investigations of modern western psychology and the speculations of others schools of Indian philosophy where possible.
This book was mostly based upon the original Prakrit and Sanskrit Jaina texts. This book was divided into eight chapters. The first chapter is dedication to the study of the essentials of the Jaina doctrine of karma. With a preliminary background of the significance of the significance doctrine of karma in the philosophical systems of