Outlines of Jainism

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

Page 50

IS JAINISM ATHEISTIC ?
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co-operating conditions of time (kāla), nature (svabhāva), necessity (niyati), activity (karma) and desire to be and act (udyama)."'9
The Jainas' view of god is thus conditioned by their conviction that the world is uncreated and indestructible. Since the theists postulate the existence of god to account for the world of name, form and experiences, the Jainas are critical of every one of the arguments brought forth by the theists. Since the Jaina philosophers were most vigorous in rebutting the Nyāya philosopher's arguments, 10 we shall refer to them alone here.
One of the arguments of the Nyāya philosopher is that the world as an effect implies a cause, an intelligent cause and that is god. The Jaina philosopher maintains that if on the analogy of ordinary effects having intelligent human causes it is argued that the world has god as its cause, it should also be held that like man, god is also imperfect. If, on the other hand, it is said that the similarity between the two types of causation is not so striking, the Jaina philosopher maintains, the Nyāya philosopher is also not justified in drawing the inference he does. Because water-vapour is similar to smoke, there can be no justification in inferring fire from watervapour as from smoke. The third alternative, — of maintaining that the world as effect is different from other effects (and so justifying a different type of cause) — is again not accepted by the Jaina philosopher. He maintains that the most important thing about a cause regarding the world-creation and an ordinary effect like a house getting gradually ruined is that the cause is invisible and so it should be accepted also that the ruins too were produced by intelligent agents.
Proceeding on the analogy of the ordinary creator – the causal agent for a given effect — the Jaina philosopher argues that god as the causal agent for the world must also be considered to have a body. We have never seen any intelligent creator without a body and so the case cannot be different with the creator of the world, argues the Jaina philosopher.
The Jaina philosopher analyses the various other possibilities also — even if a bodiless god is admitted to exist and is considered responsible for creation. Creation may be due to his personal whim
9 Indian Philosophy; p. 330 10 See Syädvädamañjari & Şaddarśanasamuccaya