Jaina Ontology

Author(s): K K Dixit
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 33

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JAINA ONTOLOGY
the Pro
the oric:
lanced
And on two occasions these additional five items along with the items 8th and 11th - 19th of the original list are made the basis of giving an exhaustive account of the nature of soul13. All this makes it clear that the authors of the list in question were aware that the aspects of the life-activity of a soul constitute just one set of the problems worth investigating into whereas the later authors felt that they constitute almost the sole set of such problems. For the list of 20 märganāsthānas developed out of the items 8th and 11th - 19th of the present list (all of which-minus karma-are included in the former and as regards all of which the early authors were convinced that they pertain to the life-activity of a soul-whereas for the later authors the former list whose all items are essentially similar to those in question of the latter was the be-all and end-all of all philosophical investigation). May be the anomalous insertion of astikāya in the Prajñāpanā list of 20 mārganästhānas was a harbinger of the original list of 23. Of course, the Bhagavati list of 23 is more balanced one as compared to the final list of 20 mārganästhānas, for otherwise the former has its own difficulties. For one thing, its inclusion of 7 or 8 items in the form of elements of mythological cosmography is philosophically unimportant and it would be better if these items are replaced by just one couple, viz. loka-aloka (world and not-world). Then pudgala (matter) should be an independent item. As for so many items being there which pertain to the life activity of soul it can be supposed that they are so many sub-items of one item, viz. jiva ; (in view of its special importance in the Jaina scheme of things karma should be made an independent item). Lastly, dravya, pradeśa and paryaya can be treated as three sub-items of one item, viz. satsāmānya (i. e. reality in general). Viewed thus, the following appear to be the most important topics of Jaina ontology. (1) Loka and Aloka
(4) Jiva (2) Pañcāstikāya and kāla (5) Karma (3) Pudgala
(6) Satsāmānya
It is instructive to note that in the chapters of Tattvārthasūtra these topics stand dispersed as follows:
I (1) (in its mythological aspect) in the chapters III-IV II (2), (3) and (6) in the chapter V III (4) in the chapter II
IV (5) in the chapter VIII As for the first chapter of Tattvārtha it has already been noted that it is devoted to the problems of mokşamārga, samyagdarśana, saptatattva, anuyogadvāra, pramāna and naya. In view of what has already been said about the Jaina scholar's preoccupation with the problem of topics-of-investigation