Book Title: Jainism a Theistic Philosophy
Author(s): Krishna A Gosavi
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

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Page 293
________________ JAINA VIEW OF GOD COMPARED WITH 50 Kapila's theory is strictly a theory of evolution. He says: A thing is not made out of nothing." It is not possible that out of nothing, i.e. out of a non-entity a thing should be made, i.e. an entity should arise. If an entity were to arise out of a non-entity, then since the character of a cause is visible in its product, the world also will be unreal. When the Vedantist- the monist or the idealist- tells 51 Kapila, let the world to be unreal, what harm is that to us? Kapila replies: the world is not unreal because there is no fact contradictory to its reality and because it is not the false result of depraved cause (leading to a belief in what ought not to be believed).32 52 277 Again he says (Kapila): the production of that which does not already exist potentially is impossible like the horn of a man." 53 Samkhya philosophy, in short according to its doctrine, Prakṛti and Purușa are enough in themselves to account for the whole of the phenomenon of the universe; and the idea of creation or is looked upon by the Samkhya as a mere redundant phantom of philosophy.4 54 Purușa, the soul, itself is neither the producer nor the produced. Whence is the human body created according to his philosophy? Kapila says that out of the remaining twenty-three principles a pair of bodies, gross body and subtle body originates." In fact twenty three principles act as the seed out of which the body is produced and the fact that the soul becomes conditioned by the 23 principles is the cause of its going from one body to another- in fact the cause of all mundane existence, and this mundane existence continues for the each soul so long as it does not discriminate the difference between soul and Prakṛti. 50 Samkhya-sutra, 1.78 51 Aniruddha's Commentary on Samkhya-sutra, 1.78 52 Samkhya-sutra, 1.79 53 Samkhya-sutra, 1.114; Samkhya-kārikā, 9 54 Samkhya-sutra, 1.92 55 Vijñānabhikṣu's Commentary on Samkhya-Sūtra, 3.2 Jain Education International For Personal & Private Use Only 55 www.jainelibrary.org

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