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The Teachings of Arhat Päráva And The Distinctness of His Sect
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The animate beings are activity-oriented, the inanimate substances are change-oriented or dynamic in nature.
The animate beings have two types of experience, of pain and pleasure. Only those who can get rid of violence and other evils including wrong viewpoint will have the feeling of bliss. A Nirgrantha, who eats only inanimate things, will meet emancipation and thus will end the transmigratory cycle.
In the second version of this chapter the following additional concepts are also mentioned: (1) The motion is of two types: (i) self-motivated and (ii)
generated by external factors. (2) Whatsoever a person experiences, it is due to his own,
and not due to other's deeds. (3) Those who observe the căturyāma(the fourfold ethical
code beginning with non-violence and ending with non-possession) will be free from the eight-fold karmas and will not be reborn in the four yonis or generic categories.
The essence of the doctrines and ethical teachings of Pärśva as embodied and expositioned in the Isibhásiyāin may be thus summarized: (i) The world is eternal with no creator behind it. (ii) Permanence in change is the essential nature of the
world. World is dynamic in disposition. It consists of
the five astikāyas, existentialities. (iii) Substances are of two kinds, animate and inanimate. (iv) The animate possesses an upward motion; the
inanimate (by law of gravity), downward motion. (v) The motion is of two kinds: (a) self-motivated and
(b) directed by external factors. (vi) The gati or transmigratory motion of animate beings
is due to their own karmas, while the motion of
matter is due to its own dynamic nature and inertia. (vii) The karmas are of eight types. (viii) Evil and non-restraint activities consequence in pain
and in the cycle of births and deaths. (ix) Those who indulge in passions and violence cannot
achieve the eternal peace and bliss. (x) Liberation can be achieved through the observance
of four yāmas, self-restraints.
followers of Pārsva and not by Pārsva himself. It is in the Isibhāsiyāiñ alone that the original version of Pārsva's teachings is directly and implicitly present. Elsewhere we meet with Parśva's views by proxy, through the discussions between the followers of Pārśva and that of Mahāvira or in a few instances by Mahāvira hemself.
In the Sütrakrtānga," for instance, is incorporated a conversation between Gautama and Udaka-Pedhālaputra, the follower of Pārsva, on the nature and language of the pratyakhyana-vow of non-violence. In this long discussion Udaka-Pedhälaputra stressed on a technical point that, while taking the vow of non-violence, one must frame it in the language that "I shall not kill the being, who is presently in mobile-form (trasa-bhūta) instead of saying 'I shall not kill any mobile being." Similarly, in the Vyākhyāprajñapti" some observations relating to the difference in minutiae about the nature and meaning of the terms sāmāyika, the pratyākhyāna, the samvara, the viveka and the vyutsarga have been made during the discussion of Kālāsyavaisyaputra, the follower of Pärśva and some sthaviras of the Mahavira's following.
In the Vyäkhyāprajñaptio we come across a very interesting and pinpointed discussion between the layfollowers of Mahävira and the śramaņas of Pārsva's tradition on the outcome of restraint and penance. It had been questioned: If the outcome of restraint is to stop the influx of fresh karmas and of penance to liberate the soul from the kārmic bondage, then why the souls are bom as devas in the celestial regions? To this question different answers were given by the śramaņas of the Pārsva's church. At last Kaśyapa said it is due to the adherence to pious deeds such as penance and restraint that the souls are born as devas in celestial quarters. In the Uttarādhyayana we also come across an interesting dialogue between Gautama and Kesi on aspects relating to the monastic disciplines and spiritual practices; as a result, some distinctive features of Pārśva's teachings surface.
Teachings of Pārsva in other Canonical Works
In the Sūtrakrtānga, the Uttarādhyayana, and the Vyākhyāprajñapti, we find some explanation of, or minute observations on, what is broadly stated in the Isibhāsiyāin. In these texts the views of Pärśva are presented by the
Distinctness of Pārsva's Sect
Pärśva as well as Mahāvira belonged to the Nirgrantha section of the Sramanic traditions which had several similarities in doctrines, philosophy, and religious practices. So far as the philosophical aspect of their teachings is concerned, the traditions of Pārśva and Mahāvira have much in common. Scholars of Nirgranthology like Pt. Sukhlal Sanghvi and others are of the opinion that the Mahāvira's sect has considerably borrowed from that of
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