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Jaina Acara: Siddhanta aura Svarupa
There can be no effect without a cause. Different causes produce different effects. No pots of sand can be transformed into golden ones. Jainism says that the root cause of untruth is perversion. What may pose to be truth in our day-to-day life is really not truth at all. A drunkard or a mad man may talk sense for some time but who knows when they will blurt nonsense. What they speak has no insignia of truth, since they lack in thought and discrimination.
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A truthful person, under a mistaken impression, may say some thing which is false but the moment he knows his mistake he rectifies it. An untruthful person, even when he speaks the truth, will not be trusted. A man of right attitude will turn untruth into truth but he who is perverted will turn truth into untruth. A cow turns grass into milk but a serpent turns milk into poison.
Lord Mahavira says that a man indulges in falsehood because of greed, anger, fear and fun. They make men agitated, non-serious and not their usual selves. In their lighter and irresponsible mood they become prone to indulge in gossip mixed with falsehood. He who speaks the truth in harsh and hoarse words in a grating voice, will not be trusted. What he speaks bitterly will be taken as untruth. But if one is soft-spoken and gentle in behaviour, he will be trusted even if what he speaks is larded with untruth. The Jaina philosophers have given more importance to emotion than to thought and speech.
Agastyasingha, Jinadasa and Haribhadra have extended the meanings of greed, pride etc. They imply emotions that have not been actually expressed. Anger implies wrath. Greed implies deceit. Fear and laughter are indicative of love and hate, strife and the like.
There are four reasons why people indulge in falsehood:
(1) Sadbhāva pratiṣedha-It is to deny the existence of what exists e.g. merit, demerit, bondage, salvation etc. The ultimate victory is of truth alone. It is truth that extends the path for the celestial ear to facilitate the admittance to their destination or of those who have obtained their desire. The Satpatha Brahmana says that truth may not seem to win at first but its final victory is more than assured. In the battle between gods and demons, gods seemed to lose but finally demons were worsted.
In 'Aittereya Brahman' Manu's son Nabha Naistika had won a precious prize for his unfailing devotion to and observance of truth. He instructed the wise ones to do likewise. But man is liable to err. If he acknowledges his slur he is freed from all sins. It is truth which lets you inside the domain of Self.
In Jaina Purāṇa you read that king Vasu knowingly propagated the wrong meaning of 'Ajairyastavyam' and gave his judgement accordingly with the result that his throne was hurled down.
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