Jain Thought and Culture

Author(s): G C Pandey
Publisher: University of Rajasthan

Page 11

GC PANDE
THE ROLE OF THE IDEA OF KRIYAVADA IN JAINA LOGIC
The earliest Jaina texls like the Ayaramga, Uttarajjhayana and Suyagadamga are marked by a strong emphasis on the notion of Kriya or willed action that man has freedom of will (Purusakara Vivya) sufficient for working out his salvation was claimed almost as a distinctive feature of Jaina faith and contrasted with rival doctrines especially of the Ajivakas who presented an extreme contrast This dominant moral attitude continued as a persistent background in which alone some of the characteristic features of later, systematic Jaina philosophy can best be understood
Kriya has to be distinguished from Karman Kriya has its ultimate source in the inherent and inalienable power of the soul (Iiva) Karman, on the other hand, represents a subtle physical power which hinders, envelops and binds the soul One may describe Kriya as the activity of the soul, Karman as its passivity Moral and spiritual effort consists in repelling (Samvara) and expunging (Nirjara) the influence of matter by the force of will The heroic affirmation of the freedom of the soul over the imprisoning mould and world of matter is Tapas and it makes one ultimately Victor (Jina) Worthy(Arhata), and Self-sufficient (Kevalın)
The acceptance of the reality and crucial singificance of ‘action' has far-reaching philosophical implications Real action implies an acting person who changes and yet persists and a similar mutable but ordered world of other persons and things The being of things given in experience must be modifiable and hence imperfect and the nature of the soul moreover perfectible Multiplicity and change must be real by the side of identity and persistence Moreover, to
*Tagore Professor, now Vice Chancellor, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur