Book Title: Source Book in Jaina Philosophy
Author(s): Devendramuni
Publisher: Tarak Guru Jain Granthalay

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Page 540
________________ Jaina and Buddhist Philosophy COMMON POINTS BETWEEN THE TWO PHILOSOPHIES! Jaina and Buddhist darśanas have many common points between them. They belong to the śramana current of thought. They revolted against the Vedic ritualism of the Yajñas. Both the darśanas gave prominence to the principle of ahiṁsā, although other darsanas in Indian thought have also given importance to the principle of ahirsa, but Tathāgata Buddha and Sramaņa Bhagavāna Mahāvira went against violence committed during Yajñas for the sake of oblations and preached the practice of ahiṁsā in the daily life. Mahāvira gave a subtle analysis of the concept of ahimsā. The two darśanas were also against the classification and the distinction of society into the different types of jātis, like the brāhmaṇa, ksatriya, vaisya and südra. The Vedic tradition is to believe that these distinctions were primarily concerned with the birth of the individuals into different classes. But the Jainas and the Buddhists did not accept such a distinction and they said that the distinctions are functional and have nothing to do with the high or the lowly character of the individuals. Mimāṁsakas consider the Vedic authority as apauruşeya, but Jainas and the Buddhists gave the status of pauruseya to the authority of Vedas as well as to their agamas and tripitakas. The Jainas and the Buddhists did not accept the theistic conception of God. The Jaina philosophers have refuted the arguments of the Naiyyāyikas about the belief in the creator God. This worldly life (samsāra) is beginningless and the chain of action and reaction. Both of them accept the doctrine of karna and the good and evil fruits of karma. Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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