Jainism Some Essays

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

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Jainism
the Tirthankar-Buddha is that the former though he strives for self-realization from the point of view of his own personal interest, has got all the merits of the Tirthankara-Buddha excepting the one to do good to others which the latter only has got. In other words, the Pratyeka-buddha is no doubt a perfect being and attains salvation ; still he does not do any activitity that brings about the good of others. While the Tirthankar-Buddha is engaged in activities doing good to himself as well as to others also. On account of this, the Tirtharkara-Buddha acquires those special powers which are not there in Pratyeka-buddha but which he only has got. The reason of this is tbat Tirthai kara-Buddha in his previous births bas cultivated total compassion which in his birth as Tirthankara inspires him to do welfare to others. He is not satisfied with his own good but is fully happy when he confers good on others. This entitles him to the status of a supreme ruler (śāstā), or the enlightened one (Buddha) and of the revered (Bhagavān). The religious rule which he establishes is known after his name.
Jainism being old, historical information about the Tirtha i karas before Mahāvira is also available. It is not difficult to prove, therefore, that some Tirthankaras flourished before Mahāvira as the number twentyfour of such Tarthasikaras is merely formal and due to convenience in the case of an organized religion. But this is not so in the case of Buddhas because the Gautama Buddha himself who is recognized as the twentyfifth says that the realization which he has achieved has not been achieved by any one so far and adds that the religious truth as envisaged by him is extraordinary. This leads us to a safe conclusion that Buddhism started with Gautama Buddha. But the organizers of the Buddha religion conceived the theory of the twentyfour Buddhas, beginning from the first seven to last twentyfourth and thus bestowed on it the character of antiquity just as the others also have done.
A critical perusal of literatures belonging to both the religions makes one thing clear that both Mahā vira and Buddha have been described as mere human beings in the earlier stage, while in the later as super humans, their human nature being subordinated. One who makes a comparative study of the literatures belonging to both the systems cannot help feeling that the race was started by the respective followers of both the religions regarding who was more superhuman and who was less. Just as biographical account of Mahāvira went on being written more and more by the subsequent writers, his life assumed extraordinary form so much so that certain ordinary human activities, more especially the physical ones, found no place in their account and the superhuman nature was presented in bold relief. While Buddha simply lost the character of a human being and