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JAINISM: A THEISTIC PHILOSOPHY "GOD IN JAINISM”
C. We are led to a vicious circle of argument if we can say that
the world is such that we have a sense that one made it, as we have to infer the same from the fact of being created by God
(iii)
God's omnipresence and omniscience as proposed by Naiyāyikas cannot also be accepted, because:
A. If he is everywhere, he absorbs into himself everything into
his own self, leaving to exist nothing outside him, B. His omniscience would make him experience hell, as he
would know everything and his knowledge would be direct experience.
(iv)
It is not possible to accept the Naiyāyika's contention that without supposition of God, the variety of the world would be inexplicable, because we can very well posit other alternatives:
A. The existence of the natural order and B. A society of gods to explain the universe. But if society of
gods were to quarrel and fall out as it sometimes contended, then the nature of gods would be quite so unreliable, if not vicious, that we cannot expect elementary co-operation that we find in ants and bees.
The best way, therefore, is to dispense with God altogether. We find similar objections against the acceptance of a theistic God, in Buddhism also. Buddha was opposed to the conception of Isvara as a creator of the universe. If the world were to be thus created, there should be no change, nor destruction, nor sorrow, nor calamity.
If īśvara were to act with a purpose, He would not be perfect, that would limit his perfection, but if He were to act without a purpose his actions would be meaningless like a child's play.
60 Buddhacarita- Trans. D. Kaushambi, JSPS, 1937, Parisista-2
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