Book Title: Religion and Philosophy of the Jainas
Author(s): Virchand R Gandhi
Publisher: Jain International Ahmedabad

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 203
________________ 170 RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY OF THE JAINAS the niścya deva would be the internal condition or the realisation of the conviction that there is in me the potentiality of becoming the Deva I have described. Vyavahāra Dharma Applying these two terms vyavahāra and niscaya, dharma is to be defined from these two points of view. Vyavahara dharma is the action in accordance with the rules prescribed or taught by Arhats and accompanied always by dayã or based always upon daya, which is a fellow feeling for other living beings; and vyavahāra dharma in order to be vyavahara dharma must become the cause of niscaya dharma. The love, compassion, sympathy, pity, etc. must accompany the practice of the rules, otherwise the practice is mere hypocrisy. Niścaya Dharma Niscaya dharma would be the purity of soul which results from the above mentioned pure action, and the sign of this purity of the soul is that the dirt of karma disappears (karma is a foreign element in combination with the soul). And the fruit of this purity of soul is samyaktva and other higher stages up to liberation. This purity of soul comes out from the action, from the vyavahāra dharma. Dharma is not something separate from the man. The rule is the man's idea, and the idea is part of or an aspect of the man. Dharma is nothing apart from the man; it is the state or action (state of knowledge, mode of behaviour) of the man. Classification of Dharma Dharma can first be divided into (1) the layman's and (2) the monk's. Leaving the dharma of the monk, the dharma of the layman can be divided into (a) ordinary or common dharma, and (b) special dharma. We are in the course of dealing with the gunasthanas or stages of development, in reference to which causes produce which karmas, and the third gunasthana has been described. This ordinary or common dharma comes in here now as a sort of digression, but it serves the purpose of showing how the man who Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266