________________ Scholastic Orientation xxxi practice of it being feasible only at the seventh.1 The sukladhyana, according to Umasvati, is possible only at the eleventh gunasthana and onward for a meditator who is well-versed in the Purvas. The first variety of sukladhyana generally takes place at the eleventh, and the second at the twelfth gunasthana, although the opposite possibility is also accepted. The last two varieties...of it are poss only at the thirteenth and fourteenth gunasthanas." This brief survey of the theory of dhyana in Jaina literature clearly shows its points of afinity with the theories that were contemporaneous with it. The special mention of the bad types of dhyana on account of the rise of possions is a unique feature of the Jaina theory, though of course they are accepted implicitly in the other theories also. Such instinctual types of dhyana are common to all creatures, human and sub-human. The subjugation of such fits of concentration is the prerogative of human consciousness, and this is also the line that divides the human species from the animal world. It is the task of human beings to devise ways and means for transcending the animal instincts and urges and discover the secrets of a higher life. Morality and religion are the outcome of human attempts at finding the ways of peaceful living and eliminating the urge to compete and establish supremacy and leadership. Scriptures are the records of the experiences of great souls inspired with the ideal of peace and emancipation of creatures entangled in endless sufferings. Meditation on the principles that have found place in the scripture for the realization of salvation is dharma-dhyana whereas the sukla-dhyana is the light discovered by the individual independently of any help from outside. The classical Jaina theory of dhyana enjoyed important additions and alterations at the hands of eminent thinkers and saints in the light of their own experiences and study of alien faiths and thoughts. We shall now give a brief account of the views of these Jaina thinkers of the early and late medieval periods on the subject. IV. SCHOLASTIC ORIENTATION OF CLASSICAL THEORY The Jaina thinkers of the early and late medieval periods, under 1 Jnanarnava, 25 : mukhyopacarabhedena dvau muni svaminau matau / apramatta-pramattakhyau dharmasyaitau yathayatham // 2 TSu, IX. 39-40. 3 Dhyanataponirupana, pp. 81-2. BhA, 1874, 1877. 4 TSu, IX. 41.
