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Jaina View of Life
We have seen the Jainas have given gradations of moral practice for the realisation of the end of perfection. There are two levels of ethical codes i) one for the layman (srāvaka dharma) and ii) the other for the spiritually advanced who have given up the attachment of Saṁsāra. It is the muni-dharma. The moral practice for them is more rigorous than for the common man. It would be worth analysing these gradations of moral life in the context of the moral structure of present day society.
I think it would be possible to work out a synthesis of 'the way of all flesh and spirit and find out a proper place for man in this universe. We can only say that with the advancement of science and technology for the sake of man, in our struggle to find out man we have lost him.
6. And to find out man we have to reassert the ideal of spiritual perfection without in any way disparaging the aims of empirical life. This is the Anekānta attitude. All have aimed at Mokşa, but few have attained it. Yet it is imperative on the part of us, humans, to know the real nature of the highest perfection as presented in the ideal of Mokşa.
III. Mokşa as an Ideal 1. The idea of release of the soul from the wheel of Saṁsāra was common in Indian philosophy except with the Cārvāka. Philosophy was not merely an academic pursuit but it had a practical aim of the attainment of Mokşa. The ancient Indians did not stop at the discovery of truth but strove to realize it in their own experiences. They followed up tattvajnāna by strenuous efforts to attain Mokşa or liberation."
But the conception of Moksa was not in the spirit of the Vedic Aryans, as they were profoundly interested in the happiness in this life. The Rgveda Samhitā largely presents the invocations of the gods for the promotion of happiness in this life. Awareness of emancipation as such is not present in the
19. Hiriyanna : Outline of Indian Philosophy, p. 18.
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