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The Humanism of Haribhadra
4. Our knowledge of dharma-which is also defined as śrutacāritrātmaka (Comm. ad DB 3.69)-is derived from science, dharmastu na vină śāstrāt (YB 222 ff). Or, according to the fragmentary Brahmasiddhantasamuccaya (BSS) 143 :
dharmadharmavyavasthāyāḥ śāstram eva niyāmakaṁ | taduktasevanad dharmaḥ, adharmas tadviparyayāt || Exactly the same view is expressed in the Bhagavadgītā 16.24:
tasmāc chāstraṁ pramāṇaṁ te kāryākāryavyavasthitau ||
Experience shows, however, that only some individuals are capable of receiving the dharmadeśanā (DB 2.40 & 2.81; LTN 2 ff.). Not all human beings can receive the saddharmabija (DB 2.1), they are apātra, or abhavya (DB 2.81).
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It is because they teach us authoritatively, that we must have bhakti to sadyogaśāstresu (YDS 110; cf. YB 222 ff). Also, we must have bhakti to a sarvajña, a Bhagavat who is dharmadeśaka (DB 6.48). He teaches the truth, for na dharme māyā (DB 4.31).
Truth is intimately related to dharma. Along with yajña, tapas, and dhyāna, satya is thus said to be dharmasadhana (BSS 114). Otherwise, the main "causes" of dharma are the five mahāvrata, which include satya and ahimsā, etc. (SVS 5).
That satya and dharma are intimately related is a common notion of Indian philosophy and law. When the Bauddhas, for instance, propagate the four Aryan Truths, these truths are truth about Dharma and about the dharmas (manifesting the Dharma, in the singular) i.e. about tad ekam as opposed to idam sarvam-the dharmādhātu as opposed to the sattvadhātu. There are four Aryan truths in order to be complete, for Dharma must stand firmly on four feet. This, as known, is an old Indo-European notion. Manu 1.81 is almost too famous to quote :
catuṣpāt sakalo dharmaḥ satyam caiva kṛte yuge | nādharmeṇāgamaḥ kaścin manuṣyān prati vartate ||
Jain Education International
More precisely, that the source of dharma is science (śāstra, sadyogaśāstra), means that the source of dharma is the agama of a Bhagavat who is sarvajña. Only a Bhagavat who is omniscient knows what he is
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