Jaina Philosophy Historical Outline

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

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172 Jain Philosophy in Historical Outline
vijñāna or perceptions of the qualities of things, samjñā or perception and knowledge, and samskära or merit and demerit-Silänka's interpretation) of momentary existence. It is also stated that the Buddhists do not believe in the doctrine of soul or that it is eternal.
In the later philosophical literature of the Buddhists and of the Jains we come across, instead of mutual slandering, real philosophical debate on special issues. The basic theoretical differences between Buddhism and Jainism was on the question of momentariness. The Buddhists regarded all changes as being due to the assemblage of conditions absolutely momentary (kṣanika) in character, and went so far as to deney the existence of any permanent soul. The Jains also believed that changes were produced by the assemblage of conditions and held that, since no ultimate and absolute view of things could not logically be taken, the reality of the permanence of the world, at least some of the fundamentals must be acknowledged side by side with the question of change. The Buddhists hold that the changing qualities can alone be perceived and that there is no unchanging substance behind them. The common example of clay and jar can be cited here. A thing such as clay is seen to assume various shapes and to undergo diverse changes in the forms of jar, pan, etc. But in spite of these changes the clay itself remains permanent. The changes occur only qualitatively. The Buddhists hold that what we perceive as clay is a specific quality and what we perceive as jar is also another quality. Since we cannot perceive any substance apart from quality, and since all the changes are by nature qualitative, the conception of any permanent and unchangeable substance is a mere fiction of ignorance. The Jains on the other hand hold that it is not true as the Buddhists say that there is no permanent substance, but merely the change of passing qualities. By the assemblage of conditions, old qualities in things disappear, new qualities come in, and something remains permanent. Thus in the case of the jar, the clay has become lost in some form, generated itself in another and remains permanent in another form.
Thus according to Jains, those who hold that there is nothing really permanent in the universe and that everything changes from moment to moment are one-sided because change and permanence are both real. Reality consists of three factors: permanence, origin and decay -utpada-vyaya-drauvyayuktam sat. As against the doctrine of
1TTDS, V., 30.