Jaina Philosophy

Author(s): Virchand R Gandhi, Kumarpal Desai
Publisher: World Jain Confederation

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Gandhi's treatment of Jaina philosophy is authentic and rational. His is the most non-sectarian approach. His lectures reflected his close acquaintance with the tenets of Jainism, his keenness of arriving at true conclusions, his constructive ingenuity, his insight into the essentials of religion, his power of comprehension and expression, his knowledge of Western philosophy as well as of other systems of Indian philosophy. Gandhi was a formidable champion of Jaina philosophy.
He said that Jaina religion looked at things from two points of view-dravyarthika naya and paryayarthika naya. According to the former, the world is without beginning and end and according to the latter it is born every moment and dies every moment. He talked about nine types of real (tatva), six types of living beings (jiva), and four types of existence (gati). He first explained the Jaina theory of reincarnation and then the parallel philosophy of karma. He analyzed minutely this philosophy and asserted that it was a seminal principle in Indian ethos. Defining 'Jaina' as one who has won over the enemies within, he went on to talk about the importance of Jaina Tirthankars in Jaina Philosophy.
Virchand Gandhi explains that "Jaina" means a follower of Jina, which is a generic term applied to those persons (men and women) who conquer their lower nature (passion, hatred and the like) and bring into prominence the highest. There lived many such Jinas in the past and many will doubt-less yet are to be born. Of such Jinas those who become spiritual heads and regenerators of the community are called Arhats (the deserving ones), or Tirthankaras (bridgemakers in the figurative sense-that is those by the practice of whose teaching we can cross the ocean of mundane life and reach the perfect state). Hence the Jainas are also called Arhatas. In each half-cycle of many millions of years twenty-four Arhats are born. In the present half-cycle the last Arhat, Mahavira, was born in 598 B. C. in Kundagrama, in
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