Jinamanjari 1996 09 No 14

Author(s): Jinamanjari
Publisher: Canada Bramhi Jain Society Publication

Page 11

The Concepts of Bhavya in Early Jainism
Dr. Fujinaga Sin Associate Professor, Miyakonojo Kosen Miyakonojo National College of Technology, Japan
Though the paths may vary, the various schools of Indian philosophical thought put mokşa, or the liberation from transmigration, as the final and ultimate end-goal in life. Some schools say, for example, that through penance mokṣu can be attained, while another school maintains that knowledge of the Bhagavatgitā leads to the final goal. The Jainas emphasize spiritual liberation, and their activities throughout history, both for the lay persons and monks and nuns, have been in preparation for this final goal. But when we come across the word bhavya in Jaina literature, there appears to be a perplexity to the Jaina doctrine of mokṣa.
The Jainas use the word bhavya in a rather particular and important context. Usually it means "being," "existing" or "good," but the word can also be translated as "fit" when used as an adjective, or "future time" or "fruit" when used as a neuter noun. In Jaina texts such usage can be found, but to the Jaina writers mostly mean, as we will see later, a person who has the possibility to achieve spiritual enlightenment or mokşu, and with abhavya a person having no such possibility.
Naturally, the general and specific usage can have a relationship with each other; a person who has potential to reach the liberated state or who will be in good karmic position in the future must be addressed with the term bhavya in the