Shraman Bhagvana Mahavira Part 1

Author(s): Ratnaprabhvijay, D P Thaker
Publisher: Parimal Publication

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whole systeur of Jainism, and I think it would be useless tu u it, as I hope that every one of you knows it perfectly well.-I want to call special attention only to such facty in it as are really prominent for the fixing of its position in the rank of religions, and which are giving to Janisin a particular importan ce in the Comparative Science of Religions
In the first place of importance, there is its (logmatical view of God. In this respect Jainisin is an anthropocentric religion. It is true that already the Vedic and Brāhmanic religions have neen anthropocentric but quite in a different way. The anthropocentricism of these religions has been only formal, as they reco gnised gods as beings, of a superhuman origin, and only sub jected to their rites by the own speculation and cimning.* But the real anthropocentricism we find only in Jainisin und Buddhism ulthough the latter deviated too much from its original ideas about this dogmatic problera † And besides the original Buddhiom went rather further on this point, and we are not yet quite sure, whether it did not deny God originally at all. †
The Jaina view of God is a very natural one for a thinking
* It was specially due to the Brāhmanic doctrine that the prayer must be obeyed by go is, if it is only done perfectly well, without any mistakes as prescribed by the Holy Books.
# It was due specially to the fact that Buddhism dut not recognise the householders as the real followers of Buddha, but only as friends and helpers of the movement who may gain some merit by supporting the real followers of the Buddha, -the bhikhus, They have been really left at their discretion, in the lap of other religions, the influence of which worked badly on the developing of the original Buddhist ideas, specially the idea of God.
† This is connected with the Buddhist conception of Soul or rather of the Bullhist «lenying of the Soul at all as a substance, and therefrom the resulting materialistic conception of the world, life, thought etc.