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Scriptural and other Arguments for Theism in Jainism
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what we find in Jainism, people develop a sort of devotion towards the great Tirthaņkaras, gods an goddesses. The Jins cannot and do not return answers to the prayers, but there are gods who watch and control true discipline. They hear the prayers and bestow favor. So far as Jains are concerned, the best mode of worshiping them is to adopt their advice."191 But then Dr. Rādhākrishnan, in his final conclusion, at the end, says, “One thing, however, is clear, that it is only by stopping short at a half way house that Jainism is able to set forth a pluralistic realism."192 This thought, if further elaborated, it can be said that ultimately, in its final analysis, we find all liberated souls as one (monism) and the devotion and worship of this one is the Jain theism. (7) Dr. S. N. Dāsgupta
Dr. Surendranāth Dasguptā like Dr. Rādhakrishanan is known for his five volumes on the history of Indian philosophy a great contribution. He discusses Jainism in his Vol. I, and covers all the important issues and aspects pertaining to Jain philosophy,193 including Jain atheism'. He relies more or less on Gunaratna's criticism on Hindu concept of God in Tarkarahasyadipikā, What is worth noting here is the feeling that a great scholar like Dr. Dasgupta could have discussed this problem more from the practical and realistic approach rather than purely theoretical one. He could have, like Dr. Rädhākrishnan taken into consideration the fact that Jains believe in God, They have their own conception of a supreme or a perfect being, though they do not accept the supreme or Paramātmā to be the creator of the world. Even if the mode of worship, prayer, rituals, pilgrimages and temple Pūjāif all these are considered as part of the Jain religion and thought, one certainly comes to the conclusion that Jainism is certainly anything but atheism. If the theism of Jainism, in its nature is different from that of the traditional or classical nature, as found in sematic religions like Christianity, Islam etc, we can say that Jain theism is a type by itself - a variety. But it certainly is all in all, theism and theistic. 7.7 Conclusion
So far, in this chapter, I feel, we have quite sufficient authorities-canonical, quasi- canonical, non-canonical, scriptural and
191. Radhakrisbanan S., Indian Philosophy, Vol. I (1979), p. 332 192. Ibid., p. 340 193. Dasgupta S. N., A Histrory of Indian Philosophy Vol. I (1975), p. 169-207
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