Jain Stories 01

Author(s): Mahendramuni, K C Lalwani
Publisher: A B Jain Shwetambar Terapanth Samaj

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ences of life, each bunch explaining the operation of pious and impious karma respectively. Following the compilation of the principal texts, generations of teachers and commentators have added illustrations of their own to inspire the people to the faith and to pin them to right conduct Altogether, the Jaina story literature is a vast store-house of knowledge
The Jaina short stories are a type by themselves and, strictly speaking, they may not be comparable with legends, fables and folk tales from other cultures and countries wherein the objective does not, by and large, extend beyond enunciating an ethical norm or social behaviour In contrast, most of the Jaina stories, unless they are historical episodes or personal accounts, have a clearly religious purpose which is to turn people from domestic life to the monastic order and ultimately to literation As an illi stration, all stories contained in the Uttaradhyayana Sutra have this bias They are, therefore, not very useful for children but pressume a certain degree of maturity in the reader
A very important common element in many Jaina stories is the illustration of karma effect Karma pursues all souls, from human till those of the most invisible insects and bacteria, through various existences, and this procesy is going on from an eternal past and will continue through an eternal future In the case of the human soul, however, the difference is that this soul not only experiences, but is fully conscious of karma effect It knows pretty well, since it is a part of the cultural heritage, that karma is the determinant of which the human life is a determined product. Karma is not mere action, but a very subtle matter which is always affixed on the space-points of the soul, imparting in the process some weight to it, so that the soul becomes incapable to rise to the crest of the sphere