Jain Moral Doctrine

Author(s): Harisatya Bhattacharya
Publisher: Jain Sahitya Vikas Mandal

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JAIN MORAL DOCTRINE
trospective self-apprehension), as variously described by the Jaina philosophers.
Such is Samyaktva or the Samyak-darśana i.e. right faith, rising spontaneously from within one's self, which is one of the pre-requisites of Samyak-çaritra or good conduct.
Another indispensable condition for the moralness of acts is, as we have indicated already, Samyak-jñāna or right knowledge, according to the Jainas. Knowledge and faith, as we have seen, are separate matters; yet there are cases in which properly developed knowledge helps the development of right faith and cases also where right faith presents the objects of knowledge in an entirely new aspect. It is thus possible for faith and knowledge combining together, as they actually do, in the conduct of a morally disposed man.
Samyak-jñāna or valid knowledge has been described as correct (Vyavasayi) cognition of one's own self (Sva) as well as of the non-self (Para), i.e., the environments surrounding him. The first of the two objects of knowledge is the self, which is characterised by consciousness, which the non-self, so far as it is not a conscious being, may be grouped under the five classes of unconscious objects, viz., 'matter', 'time' or the passive condition for the mutation of things, 'space' or the passive condition for the accommodation of substances and the two passive conditions for the 'motion' and the 'stoppage' of things. So, the foregoing six with their qualities and modes are the objects of determination by knowledge and knowledge effects the determination by examining its object under the following six categories viz. (1) 'Nirdeśa', i.e., definition or description of the thing as it is; thus the Nirdeśa of a house would be to describe it as a brick-built structure. (2) 'Svāmitva', i.e., indication of ownership; in the case of the house, its Svāmitva would be indicated by saying that it belongs to (say) A. (3) 'Sadhana', i.e., the description of the constituent materials; thus, a house would be described as constituted of bricks, mortar, lime etc. (4) 'Adhikarana' or the determination of the locus of the object under observation; in the case of the house, it may be described as standing on a solid land within a certain village. (5) 'Sthiti' or the determination of duration; the house in question may be said to be capable of lasting for (say) 60 years. (6) 'Vidhana' or the determination of the nature of the thing with reference to the mode of its genesis; thus in the case of the house, the following three things may be said viz., (i) Suppose there was a big cavity in the place where the house was built later on; a person wanting a temporary shelter, may
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