Jaina Political Thought

Author(s): G C Pandey
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

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the two aspects of Amnaya or tradition. Now the Jaina tradition.called Agama or Sruta does not accept any uncreated or divine word. For it words are human communications and while the human soul is innately divine, no supreme personal God or Creator exists. The tradition of supernatural knowledge, thus, is the tradition of enlightened human spirits. In so far as a man has a spiritual nature, he is capable of attaining transcendental knowledge, even omniscience. It is only a few persons, however, who actually reach the stage of omniscience. The Jainas recognise twenty-four such omniscient Founders of tradition (Tirthamkara), the last of whom was Mahavira. While the full wisdom of these sages cannot be communicated in words, part of it can be and has been.
It is believed that the Purvas existed as a Sanskrit canon even before Mahavira. The Teachings of Mahavira were remembered in a verbal form by his disciples beginning with Indrabhuti. The canon was now an oral tradition in the spoken tongue in twelve parts. Gradually much of it was lost and the rest had to be compiled and edited from time to time till it was redated in its present form in the 5th century A.D. at the Council of Valabhi. The Digambaras, however, believe that the original canon has been completely lost. All the Jaina sects are agreed that the twelfth anga called drstivada which included the Purvas was wholly lost.
The Jaina view of tradition presents a number of interesting and original features. It makes a clear distinction between tradition as perennial wisdom which may be inwardly realized and its verbal communication which is not only partial but a fragile historical tradition. It consequently lays stress on the need for understanding the verbal tradition in the proper spirit especially with reference to the principle of Anekanta and Syadvada. Thus even though it rejects the Vedas as a merely worldly tradition and as the composition of un-enlightened person, it still believes that for a person with an enlightened point of view, even these worldly traditions may be of use in the process of acquiring wisdom.
We may divide the history of the Jaina canon into two main phases -- canonical and post canonical. During the first phase Jaina tradition was interested primarily in the formulation of a religious and ethical world view which sought to provide an alternative to the traditional Vedic view. The Vedic view of society and state was theocentric, cosmological and hierarchical. The Jain view replaced the role of gods by an autonomous and universal moral law. It similarly replaced the role of priests as the repositories of transcendental wisdom by the order of mendicants. The ritual law and symbolism which enveloped socio-political reality giving it meaning and authority in the Vedic tradition stood disenchanted in the Jaina view, which appealed to conceptually and psychologically formulated
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