Jainism in Buddhist Literature

Author(s): Bhagchandra Jain Bhaskar
Publisher: Alok Prakashan

Page 39

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Both Jainism and Buddhism hold that the Universe came into being without the intervention of the creator-God. Worshiping of the images of their sages is a common feature in both religions.
As regards the dissimalirities between them, they are so fundamental that any positive influence of Jainism on Bud. dhism or vice-versa is difficult to establish. Buddhism does not believe in soul, whereas Jainism regards it as an essential part of human personality and its purity is essential for the attainment of salvation. According to Buddhism, a thing which comes into being perishes in the next moment. All the psychical factors like feeling, cognition, names and concepts are discrete and momentary. The first moment is regarded as the material cause (upadāna) and the second the effect (upadeya ). The combined stream of Upadana and Upadeya give rise to the false notion of a permanent self.
On the other hand, Tainism, in spite of admitting the obvious psycho-physical changes, adheres to the belief that both jiva
ter) are eternal. It maintains that only the modes ( Paryāyas ) of a substance are subject to change while the substance with its essential qnality ( guna ) is unchanging and abiding. The Buddhist theory of flux has been, therefore, criticised bitterly by the Jaina philosophers.
These two religions resort to a common terminology. For instance, the word nigantha is used for Jainism in both scriptures. Buddhism also regard sabbaganthappahina"112 as the nature of Nibbana. Pudgala is used only in these two religions but with different meanings. In Jainism it means as inanimate thing, while Buddhism gives it the sense of Alma or Jiva. Likewise, Arhat, Buddha, Asava, samvara, Sammadithi (sanya disfi or Samyagjñana) Micchadifthi, Tisarana, Noraka. etc. are common to both the religious systems.
According to the Pali Canon, the Buddha himself had a more favourable impression of Nigantha Nataputta and Jainism than of any other contemporary teacher or teaching 118 though he condemned the Nigaạthas at a number of places. Apart from