________________
JAINA CONCEPT OF GOD IN JAINA THEISM
195
The Pravacanasāra, Pañcāstikāya, Samayasāra etc., have been regarded as delineating the subject of this Anuyoga. The Tattvārtha-sūtra is the embodiment of all three Anuyogas. (b)Significance of Scriptural Study:
According to the Jaina, that is the right knowledge which enlightens the essence of life, foster self-control, directs the mind from the “abyss of sensuality to the plane of the spirit”, 15”instills the spirit of detachment, encourages the pursuance of noble path, and helps to develop fraternal feeling with all beings.!? The man with knowledge of sūtra saves himself from being led astray, just as the needle with thread is not lost. '* Pūjyapāda points out the purpose of the Svādhyāya is to enrich the intellect, to refine moral and spiritual efforts, to infuse detachment and fear from mundane miseries, to effect advancement in the practice of austerities, and to purify defects that may occur when one pursues the divine path."" For those who are tickle-minded, intellectually unsteady nothing is potent to terminate such a state of mind as the pursuance of Svādhyāya or scriptural study, just as darkness can only be nullified by the light of the sun.'
Scriptural study offers an incentive to the householder to local the life of a saint by consecrating himself completely to meditation and devotion. It is at once a “tonic to the brain and sauce to the heart”. 141 (c) God of Jains, Arihantas & Siddhas:
Arihanta is the ideal saint, supreme guru, and divinity realized soul; hence he is Paramātman or God to Jaina. Siddha has also been called God. But “neither Arihanta nor Siddha has on him the responsibility of creating, supporting and destroying the world. The
150 Yoga of saints, P-66 (EDJ-187) 137 Mūlācāra, 267, 268 (EDJ-187) 138 Ibid, 971 (ED-187) 139 Sarvārthasiddhi, IX-25 (ED-187) 140 Amitagati Śravakācāra.XIII-83 (ED,P-188) 4 Yoga of Saints, P-64 (ED, P-188)
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
