________________
JAINA VIEW OF GOD COMPARED WITH ......
281
eternal, all pervading, omniscient and completely free from all defects. The Yoga argues for existence of God on following
grounds:04
1. Whatever has degree must a maximum. 2. There are degrees of knowledge; therefore, there must be
such a thing as perfect knowledge or omniscience. 3. He who has omniscience is God.
Yoga means spiritual action and Sāṁkhya means knowledge. Sāṁkhya is theory; Yoga is practice. For all practical purposes Sāṁkhya and Yoga may be treated as theoretical and practical sides of the same system.
The mind being as it were annihilated Puruşa; the soul- alone shine in native bliss. This is called Kaivalya (final emancipation). This is the summum bonum, the end and aim of philosophy. Between this end and the first stage of mental suppression there are several stages. The author of Yoga aphorisms mentioned eight stages; 1) Yama or restraints, 2) Niyama or culture, 3) Āsana or posture, 4) Prāņāyāma or breath control, 5) Pratyāhāra or withdrawal of the senses, 6) Dharaṇā or attention, 7) Dhyāna or meditation and 8) and Samādhi or concentration. This leads us to the practical part of Yoga.“
VII. 3 (v) Jaina View of God Compared with the Nyāya
Vaisesika System
a) The Nyāya System
The Nyāya system is the work of the great sage Gautama. It is a realistic philosophy based on logical ground.
• Existence of God is proved by Naiyāyikas by several
arguments.
64 Jain philosophy, Historical out line, P-212
Yoga-sūtra, 2.29 "Dr. Chatterjee & Datta, “An Introduction to Indian Philosophy”, P-35,36
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