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Origin and Development of Jainism
external rituals.
the firm footing of moral virtues, instead of on some evidence that the stream of Indian spiritualism is one at its source. We may not have a proper understanding of the various trends if we treat them in isolation. Acaranga, Sutrakṛtänga and Rsibhaṣita may be understood in a better way only in the light of Upanisadas and vice-a-versa. Similarly the Suttanipata, Dhammapada, Theragatha and other works of Pali canon may only be studied properly in the light of Prakṛta Jaina canons and the Upanisadas. Jainism and Buddhism
Today, scholars working in the field of Jainology need a new approach to reinterpret the relationship of Jainism with Hinduism, particularly its Upanisadic trend, in the light of ancient Jaina texts of c. 4th and 3rd B. C. such as Acaranga, Sūtrakṛtānga and Isibhāsiyaim. I am sure that an impartial and careful study of these texts will remove the misconception that Jainism and Hinduism are rival religions. In Acaranga, a number of passages bearing affinity with Upanisadas, in their words and style as well as in essence are found. Acaranga mentions Śramana and Brahmana simultaneously, not as rivals, as considered later on. In Sutrakṛtānga (c. 4th B.C.), we find a mention of some Upanisadic Rsis such as Videhanami, Bāhuka, Asitadevala, Dvaipayana, Pārāśara and others. They are accepted by Jainas as the Rsis of their own tradition though they followed different codes of conduct. Sutrakṛtānga, addresses them as great ascetics and great men, who attained the ultimate goal of life, i.e., liberation. Isibhāsiyaim (Rṣibhāṣita ), considered formerly as the part of Jaina canon, also mentions the teachings of Narada, Asitadevala, Angirasa, Pārāśara, Arun, Nārāyaṇa, Yajnavalkya, Uddalaka, Vidura and many other Upanisadic Rsis, depiced as Arhat Ṛsis. These references of the Jaina canonical works not only prove the open-mindedness of Jainism, but also that the stream of Indian spiritualism is one at its source, irrespective of divisions later on into Upanisadic, Buddhist, Jaina, Ajivika and other rivulets. The work Ṛṣibhāṣita is a clear testimony to the assimilative and tolerant nature of Indian thought in general and Jaina thought in particular. Today, the society, deeply bogged into communal separatism and strife, such great works are our torch bearers.
Thus, the position accorded to the Upanisadic Rsis in early ascred texts of Jainism is a clear
Jain Education International
19
As already mentioned Jainism and Buddhism, both belong to the same Śramanic tradition of Indian culture. Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainas and Gautama, the Buddha, are contemporaries, flourished in the c. 6th and 5th B. C., at a time when the simple natured worshipper of early Vedic religion became caste-ridden and ritualistic. Western thinkers regard both of them as the rebel children of Hinduism but they are really, the reformers. They provide a spiritual meaning to the Vedic rituals and challenge the infallibility of the Vedas and undercut the indisputable superiority of the Brahmaṇas. Both, being atheistic in nature hence, do not accept the concept of God as a creator and controller of the world. They establish the supre-macy of man instead of the God and other deities and declare that man himself is the maker of his own destiny. It is the man alone and none else who can attain even Godhood through his moral life and spiritual practices. For both of them every living being is capable of attaining Nirvāṇa, i.e., Godhood or Buddhahood. Both of them rejected the concept of grace of God. For them, solely our own self, is responsible for misfortune as well as sufferings. Thus, they both accept the supremacy of self and law of karma. Moral code, preached by Buddha and Mahavira, in general sense is also similar. To get rid of the cycle of birth and death, i.e., from worldly sufferings, is the common end of Buddhism, Jainism and the Upanisadic thinkers. Both, Buddhism
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