Book Title: Jain Philosophy and Modern Science
Author(s): Nagrajmuni
Publisher: Anuvrat Samiti

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 147
________________ ESSENCE OF SOUL 131 inanimate elements Quoting from the observations of another critic, Shilangacharya gives to us a second argument on this point 'By the combination of five elements of different qualities consciousness cannot originate because it is evident that all the five senses have the knowledge of their own subjects The subJect known by one sense cannot be known by another sense And with these observations we naturally come to the conclusion there is without doubt a substance called the soul which has the collective experience of the subject which is known by the five different senses Acharang Sutra, the first of the eleven Jain scriptures, which historically too is the oldest Jain scripture, begins with the following observation about the significance of the soul "So many people do not know where I have come from? Shall I go to the next life or not? Who am I? and where shall I go from here ?21 In the fifth original scripture Bhagvati, the soul has been very clearly explained and it has been said that the "Soul is eternal, death less, imperishable, undecaying, perpetual and permanent "22 On one occasion while answering some questions of his disciple Gautam Muni, Lord Mahavira, describes the soul as non-eternal too. In this context it will be of interest to study the following dialogue between Gautam Muni and Lord Mahavira: 21. Acharang 1-1 22 Bhagwati -Ud

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234