Outlines of Jainism

Author(s): S Gopalan
Publisher: Wiley Eastern Private Limited New Delhi

Page 28

PARSVA AND MAHAVIRA
him."6
Though the differences are mentioned in the Jaina texts it is significant that the Uttaradhyayana-Sutra maintains that in essence the teachings of Parsva and Mahāvīra are the same. Kesi, one of Pārsva's followers is shown asking Sudharma-Gautama, one of Mahāvīra's disciples questions regarding the wisdom of the five vows. He asks: "Both Laws pursuing the same end, what has caused this difference? Have you no misgivings about this twofold law, O wise man ?" Gautama replies: "Pārśvanātha understood the spirit of the time and realized that the enumeration of the great vows as four would suit people of his age; Mahāvīra gave the same four vows as five in order to make the Jaina doctrine more acceptable to the people of his time. There is no essential difference in the teachings of the two Tirthankaras."'s
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Sometimes the question of the exact vow included by Mahavīra is discussed in the context of the Svetambara-Digambara controversy regarding 'clothes'. One view is that Mahāvīra, as the reformer of the church preached against the ascetics being 'skyclad' and the other is that it was he who brought in the vow of non-possession and insisted on its logical extremes. But considering the fact that Mahāvīra permitted women to take to the ascetic vows whereas the Digambara sect maintained that nirvāṇa could not be attained by women and that they have to be born as men for realizing that state, the first of the views mentioned here seems to be more plausible. Also from the generally accepted view that there were no essential differences between the philosophical standpoints of the Svetambaras and the Digambaras, in spite of a rigid
division and in view of the fact that Mahāvīra is considered to have brought in certain changes in Pārsva's teachings, keeping in view, the 'changed circumstances' of his time it seems to be more appropriate and correct to hold that Mahāvīra did not extend the law of
6 History of Indian Philosophy (Allahabad : Tirabhukti Publications, 1957), Vol. I, p. 230
7 XXIII. 24
8 Ibid., XXIII. 23-31
9 U. Mishra, op. cit., p. 230. It is interesting to note that even this scholar concedes that Mahavira emphasized the leading of an ethical life much more. "He believed that for the attainment of the highest truth it was most essential to purify one's body and mind through strict observance of the rules of good behav. iour." (Ibid., p. 231)