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JAINA CONCEPT OF GOD IN JAINA THEISM
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speculative concept of God and, it is said that they launched most sophisticated argument against the so called theism in the Syādvādamañjarī of Mallișeņa Sūri, the Tarkarahasya-dipikā of Gunaratna, which is a commentary on Haribhadra's famous polemic work Şaļdarśana-samuccaya against the doctrine of God of NyāyaVaiseșika. Jainas were against the God as creator; and they had presented several arguments against theistic concept of God:
According to Jaina arguments: (i) It is difficult to understand the nature of world as an effect: A. If the effect is to mean that which is made of parts
(sāvayava) then even space is to be regarded as effect; B. If it means coherence of a cause of a thing, which was,
previously nonexistent, in that case one cannot speak of the
world as effect as atoms are eternal. C. If it means that which is liable to change, then God would
also be liable to change; and he would need a creator to create him and another and so on ad-infinitum. This leads to infinite regress.
(ii)
Even supposing that the world as a whole is an effect and needs a cause, the cause needs not be an intelligent one as God because,
A. If he is intelligent as the human being is, then he would be
full of imperfections, as human intelligence is not perfect. B. If his intelligence is not of the type of human intelligence but
similar to it, then it would not guarantee inference of the existence of God on similarity, as we cannot infer the existence of fire on the ground of seeing steam which is similar to smoke and also because it lacks Vyāpti (the permanent relationship of cause with effect).
59 (i) Gunaratna Sūri. Saddarśana-samuccava Tīkā. Ed. Mahendra Kr
Jain, Bharatiya Jnanpeeth, Delhi, 1989, P-166-187 (ii) Mallisena Sūri, Syādvādamañjarī, Jina Shasan Aradhana Trust,
Bombay, Samvat 2042, P-61-82
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