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JAINA VIEW OF SOUL COMPARED WITH
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and not merely saints which is gross mistakes being opted by Western scholars and even several Indian scholars have supported it."
To western scholars and orthodox Indian scholars, Buddhism and Jainism in spite of their common basis of philosophical doctrine, appeared to be rival creed. During the period of Buddha his disciples were profusely spreading their religion, attacking Brāhmaṇas and also Jainas, who then counter attacked them.
Belief in self or soul is regarded in Buddhism as a heresy. Two kinds of heresies in Buddhism are advocated: one of these is called Sakkāyaditthi - the heresy of individuality, one of three primary delusions which must be abandoned at the very first stage of the Buddhist path of freedom. The other is Attavāda", the doctrine of soul; it is classed with sensuality, heresy and belief in efficacy of rites- as one of the four upādānas.
In Buddhist work Brahmajālasutta, Gautama discusses sixtytwo different kinds of wrong belief: among them are those who believe that soul and world are eternal.
According to Gautama there are sixteen heresies teaching a conscious existence after death; which includes soul is material or immaterial or is both or neither, that it is finite or infinite or is both or neither, that it will have one or many modes of consciousness, that its perceptions will be few or boundless, that it will be in a state of joy or misery, or both or of neither.
Though Buddhism does not believe in the doctrine of soul or that it is eternal. The basic theoretical difference between Buddhism and Jainism was on the question of momentariness. The Buddhist regarded all changes as being due to the assemblage of conditions absolutely momentary (kșanika) in character, and went so far as to
29 Dr. N. N. Bhattacharyya, “Jain Philosophy, Historical Out Line”, 1999,P-194
VRG, “The system of Indian philosophy”, P-110
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