Jaina Path of Ahimsa

Author(s): Vilas Sangve
Publisher: Bhagwan Mahavir Research Centre

Page 19

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PHILOSOPHY OF JAINISM
Jainism emphatically asserts that every soul is capable of attaining perfection if it wilfully exerts in that direction. But the real situation is that from time eternal the soul is bound with matter and it is the aim of every person to get the soul rid of matter so that soul can assume its true state. This spiritual emancipation requires the knowledge of the beatific condition and of the causes which stand in the way of its attainment. To find out these causes it is necessary to understand what are the existing elements or substances of nature and mode of their interaction.
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Jainism believes that the whole universe can be divided into two categories, viz., Jiva, i.e., soul and Ajiva, i. e. non-soul. These two - Jiva and Ajiva exhaust between them all that exists in the universe and Jaina philosphy is based on the nature and interaction of these two elements. It can be said in short that the living and the non-living, by coming into contact with each other, forge certain energies which bring about birth, death and various experiences of life; this process could be stopped, and the energies already forged destroyed, by a course of discipline leading to salvation.
A close analysis of this brief statement shows that it involves following seven propositions.
(1) Firstly, that there is something called the living.
(2) Secondly, that there is something called the non-living.
(3) Thirdly, that the two (i. e. the living and non-living) come into contact with each other.
(4) Fourthly, that the contact leads to the production of some energies.
(5) Fifthly, that the process of this contact could be stopped. (6) Sixthly, that the existing energies could also be exhausted; and (7) Lastly, that salvation could be achieved.