Some Problems in Jaina Psychology

Author(s): T G Kalghatgi
Publisher: Karnatak University Dharwar

Page 28

THE JAINA THEORY OF THE SOUL
If this division is accepted, there need be no contradiction. Again, when size is attributed to the soul, it is possible that it refers to the sphere or extent of the influence that is intended. In the Pañcāstikāyasāra we read that just as a lotus hued ruby, when placed in a cup of milk, imparts its lustre to the milk, the soul imparts its lustre to the whole body.85
Jīva is characterized by upward motion. Nemicandra describes the pure soul as possessing ürdhvagati. In the Pañcāstikāyasāra it is said, when the soul is freed from all impurities it moves upward to the end of loka.36 For Plato, the soul was, above all, the source of motion. It is only the self that moves. In the Phædrus, Socrates says in his second speech, "The soul is immortal, for that which is ever in motion is immortal.” The self never ceases to move and it is the fountain and the beginning of motion to all that moves. The movement of the soul in saṁsāra is due to its association with karma; but by nature it has the upward motion which it adopts when it is free from karma. But it has to stop at the top of the universe beyond which no movement is possible in pure space which is devoid of the medium for motion. The Jaina conception of the soul as possessing ürdhvagati is more an ethical expediency than a metaphysical principle or a psychological fact.
All these attributes belong to the nature of every soul and they are clearly seen if the jīvas are pure and free. However, most of the jīvas are not pure and free. They are contaminated by some foreign elements which veil their purity and perfection. The foreign element is karma, very fine matter, imperceptible to the senses, and which enters into the soul and causes great changes. The souls are then involved in the wheel of saṁsāra. They become saṁsārins.
The saṁsāri jīvas are classified on the basis of various principles, like the status and the number of sense organs possessed by them. They are the sthāvara jīvas, immovable souls. This is the vegetable kingdom. Sir J. C. Bose has pointed out that the vegetable world has capacity for experience. They are one sensed organisms. Earth, water, fire and plants are such jīvas. They possess the sense of touch. This view is peculiar to Jainism. Trasa jīvas (moving souls) have two to five senses. Worms, oysters, conches etc., possess taste and touch. Ants, bugs and lice have three senses_taste, touch and smell. Mosquitoes, bees and flies possess four senses--taste, touch, smell and sight. And birds, beasts and men have all the five senses. Again, five sensed organisms may possess mind. They are called samanaska. They may be bereft of mind (amanaska).
35 Pañcāstikāyasāra, 33. 36 Ibid, 79.