Jaina Philosophy Historical Outline

Author(s): Narendra Nath Bhattacharya
Publisher: Munshiram Manoharlal Publisher's Pvt Ltd New Delhi

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xiy Jain Philosophy in Historical Outline these two extremes there are a number of systems which are basically materialistic but have eventually developed idealistic tendencies under different historical conditions. Of these systems the NyāyaVaišeşika, Vaibhāşika and Sautrāntika have become overpowered by the spirit of idealism. The Sāmkhya and Mimāṁsā, despite their idealistic accretions, have been able to maintain their original materialistic character. The same holds good also in the case of Jain philosophy which, notwithstanding its later idealistic tone and colour, has been able to maintain its basic materialistic kernel. In this connection I like to draw the attention of my readers to the following observation of Pandit Sukhlalji Sanghvi, one of the greatest Jain scholars of our times.
"Indian philosophical systems fall under two main classes: some of them are realistic (vāstavavādin) and others idealistic (avāstavavādin; illusoristic). Those who view the gross (sthūla) world, i.e. the world apprehended by empirical (laukika) organs of knowledge (pramāņa), to be as real as the subtle (sükşma) world, i.e. the world apprehended by the transcendental (lokottara) organs of knowledge, that is to say, those which maintain that there is no difference between the empirical (vyavahārika) and the absolute (pāramārthika) truth, that all truth is of the same kind though differing in degree, that all objects revealed (bhāsita) through whatever organ of knowledge are equally real even if this revelation (bhāna) be relatively full or meagre, clear or vague, and that even real objects are capable of being expressed in words (vānī-prakāśya)-are realistic systems. They may also be called positivistic (vidhimukha) systems or systems talking in terms of 'it is thus' and 'it is so' (idamitthamvādin, evamvādin). They include the Cārvāka, Nyāya-Vaišeşika, Pūrva-Mimāmsā, and Sāmkhya-Yoga systems, the Vaibhāşika and Sautrāntika schools of Buddhism, the Madhvite school of Vedānta, etc.
Those which view the external (bāhya), perceptible (drśya) world to be unreal (mithyā) and the internal (antarika) one alone to be ultimately real (parama-satya)—that is to say, those which, having classified truth into the empirical and the absolute, the apparent (sāmvrtika) and the real (vāstavika), treat as unreal everything that is apprehended by the empirical organs of knowledge and is expressed in words—are idealistic systems. They may be called negativistic (nişedhamukha) systems or systems talking in terms of 'it is not so (anevamvādin). The Sünyavāda and Vijñānavāda schools of Buddhism, the Samkarite school of Vedānta, etc. are systems of this type.