________________
Mahavira & Buddha
decaying body only. His Self is pure consciousnefull of infinite beautitude. It is owing to the contact of body the self has lost its divine form and has been imprisoned in the body. The law of cause and effect, as you sow so you reap, is working always to bring about a worldly condition of life : everything though is in becoming here, but it retains its eternal conscious or unconscious identity. By right belief when the man acquires the right knowledge of his soul and other substances, he gains an insight capable of seeing Truth in its every aspect. He then understands the realities of the universe and realises the importance of the seven principles, namely 1. Jiva (Soul), 2. Ajiva (non-soul), 3. Asrava (Influx of Karmas), 4. Bandha (Bondage of Karmas), 5. Samvara (Restraint), 6. Nirjara (Shedding of Karmas) and 7. Moksa (Emancipation). Realising the Truth of the Realities the aspirant then sets himself to observe the rules of right conduct. Out of the twelve vows of a layman, the five Silas are essential to observe, which are 1. Ahinsa (Non- Injury), 2. Satya (Truth), 3. Asteya (Non-theft), 4. Brahmacharya (Limited celibacy) and 5. Parigraha-parimana (Limitation of possessions and control of desires). The observance of the threefold rules of the way of Liberation is called the "Ratnatraya- Dharma” of the Jainas. It inspires every right-thinking man to live a true life causing least injury to his own Self and to others as well. He should accept no comfort in life at the cost of pain and misery to others. Live and let live is humane but Mahâvîra declared that it is but natural for each and every living being to help one and all in such a way that the spiritual progress, along with the material one, may be possible for all. This teaching of universal love and service won the hearts of people and they realised the Truth and even today it can prove to be a panacea for all the ills humanity is suffering from. Eightfold Middle path of the Buddha & Early Buddhism
Turning to the teachings of the Buddha, we find the eightfold Middle Path almost identical to the threefold way of Liberation of Mahâvîra. No doubt, the Buddha had expressed no definite opinion about soul, universe etc., but there is concrete evidence in his discourses which proves that the earlier Buddhism was quite different from that which is now being commonly
