Jainism Some Essays

Author(s): A S Gopani
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

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Jainism
silence of the teacher which, in fact, was a sermon in words, removed the doubts of the pupils) was apprehended clearly and in detail. At that time, it was also acknowledged about Buddha that he, throughout his whole life did not utter a single word of instruction or sermon and
cording to Digambara tradition, the Jaina Tirthankaras did not make use of the spoken language but merly uttered "Hum" which assumed the forms of respective languages undestood by respective hearer. Therefore, the situation is bound to become more complicated then simpler if scriptural matters are interpreted in the light of the pronouncements of the Jaina teachers taking them as final. Therefore, the question will not be solved but will become knotty if and when we try to understand thc aforesaid opinion of Sanghadāsa divested of its context.
The long and short of it all is this that the Tirthan karas are the initial source of the Jaina ethics. They are in a position to distinguish right from wrong through their uncommon intuitive powers and lay down prescri. ptions and prohibitions important for the spiritual aspirants. But the Jaina's have not accepted that the Tirthankaras do this in the manner of Buddha and also they do not believe that all the prescriptive nnd prohibitory rules are found incorporated in the teachings of the Tirthari karas like the Vaidikas in the Vedas. But at the same time it has also been equally well accepted that the ethical and moral rules have also been tramed and formulated, on the basis of moral conduct and behaviour as well as preaching of teachers other then Tirthankars, avoiding conflict and contradiction with the original objectives of realization, with reference to contemporary times and places, and that they all form collectively the main spring of the general moral code of the Jainas. The Fundamentals of Jain Ethics : Knowledge and Action
Dry and ignorant performance of religious activities do not deserve to be called ethics from the Jaina point of view. The essential requiesite of good, ideal conduct is right knowledge. It is necessary that the vision or faith must be, first, clear. The knowledge can be correct or right if it follows from clear vision. Every one has the knowledge of an object but from the spiritual standpoint it can be called true only then when it flows from the correct assessment of a thing attempted from the extra-mundane and not the mundane, angle. The object of getting emancipation should invariably decide whether a particular action is permitted or prohibited. The knowledge without discrimination is not the right type of knowledge and a conduct is not right type of conduct if it is not based on the right type of knowledge. keeping this in mind it has been said that the conduct without right knowledge is like a load of sandal wood sticks placed on the back of a donkey.