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The Humanism of Haribhadra
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XIV. Eight Verses Crushing the Thesis of an Absolutely Permanent
[Soul]
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Some people have the one-sided view that the soul is absolutely permanent. But how can they, in the original meaning of the word, logically maintain (that a permanent soul] is subject to violence, etc.?
[Since a permanent soul is also] one without activity, it is clear that it can never kill anybody, nor can it be killed by anybody. Thus it has nothing to do with violence!
But if there is thus no violence at all, then non-violence cannot be anything real. Furthermore, truth and all the other [virtues mentioned above] are also [not real], because they were supposed to produce non-violence [which, as said, apparently does not exist].
So, if this were a correct interpretation [of the status of the soul] and these [virtues] did not exist, then the entire practice of observances, etc. would be good for nothing. It would simply be a matter of delusion!
Also, [a permanent soul] could not possibly be united with a physical body. If it could, it would also be omnipresent, and therefore samsăra could not be conceived.
As a result of this [absurdity] all the words [of Jina] would be but empty talk Good rebirth as a result of good karma, bad rebirth as a result of bad karma, insight and liberation.
The same mistake occurs if one assumes that the [soul] has a place of enjoyment as its object, for how could [a soul] without activity enjoy [any object] when it is quite different from that [object which is not without activity]!
If one accepts that the [soul] can be active, then all this is possible. [If one wants everything] to be blameless in the fundamental sense of the word [soul], then one must resort to another philosophical system. XV. Eight Verses Crushing the Thesis of an Absolutely Impermanent [Soul]
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If one [e.g. a Bauddha] assumes that the "soul" is a kind of continuum of [momentary] instants of cognition, then, no doubt, violence, etc., is For Private & Personal Use Only
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