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JAINISM: A THEISTIC PHILOSOPHY "GOD IN JAINISM"
In the beginning of the creation there was but one subtle body, which consisted of the collection of seventeen elements. But through the diversity of actions later on the one subtle body became differentiated into many. The subtle body does not exist independently. It has its tabernacle- the gross body for residing therein. As a shadow or a picture does not stand without a support, so the subtle body at death leaves one gross body and passed into another. It cannot in fact exist independently because its essence is pure light and all Luminas is either is seen only as associated with earthy substance. The gross body is a composition of the five gross elements? 56
According to Sāmkhya, the soul on liberation does not merge into the Universal Spirit or into the Absolute, for in Sāṁkhya system there is no such thing as the Supreme Spirit or the Absolute. Sāmkhya does not propound such a theory as the final object but on the contrary he refutes it. It (Sāṁkhya) thinks by merging into primordial original essence, the Prakrti, the soul will have to rise again, and pass through different mundane existences. It is only when the right discrimination of soul and non-soul takes place that there will be the final emancipation of the soul.
According to Sāṁkhya, similar to Jaina theism, God as an eternal and immutable self cannot be the cause of the world. God cannot guide or control Praksti.
To create the world or control Prakrti cannot be the end of Gods own, because perfect being cannot have any unfulfilled desires and unattained ends. The belief in God is inconsistent with the distinctive reality and immortality of individual selves. Perception and inference do not prove God. The Prakrti, the primordial matter from which the universe is evolved in a regular course, is moved by the laws of motion inherent within. It transforms itself into the world. Hence, it is redundant to admit the existence of God. The
56 Samkhya-Sūtra, 3.17
Ibid, 5.2-12, Sankhyakārikā,57
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