________________
CHAPTER ONE
The Philosophy and Ethics of the Jainas
Jainism has two ways of looking at things - One, called Dravyarthika naya and the other Paryayarthika naya. According to the Dravyarthika naya view the universe is without beginning and end but according to the Paryayarthika naya view we have creation and destruction at every moment.
The Jaina canon may be divided into two parts: First Shrute Dharma i.e. Philosophy and second, Charitra Dharmai.e. Ethics.
The Shruta Dharma inquires into the nature of nine principles, six kinds of living beings and four states of existence - sentient beings, non-sentient things, merit, demerit. Of the nine principles, the first is soul. According to the Jaina view, soul is that element which knows, thinks and feels. It is in fact the divine element in the living being, the Jaina thinks that phenomena of knowledge, feeling, thinking and willing are conditioned on something, and that that something must be as real as anything can be. This soul is in a certain sense different from knowledge and in another sense identical with it. So far as one's knowledge is concerned the soul is identical with it, but so far as some one else's knowledge is concerned it is different from it. The true nature
39
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
