Spiritual Awakening and other Essays

Author(s): Kamalchand Sogani
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 50

economic exploitation, social oppression, curtailment of legitimate freedoms and the like is a great mental disturbance, is dreadful and is associated with unbearable pain and affliction. Since life is dear to all beings, pleasures are desirable, pain is undesirable for them, beings ought not to be killed, ruled, possessed, distressed and so on (TUSHIŞTII पडिलेहित्ता फ्तेयं परिणिवाणं सव्वेसिं पाणाणं अस्सातं अपरिणिववाणं महमयं दुक्खें। 'सवे पाणा सुहसाता दुक्खपडिकूला। सव्वेसिं जीवितं पियं).
It will not be idle to point out that the talk of Ahiṁsā is not possible without a world of living beings. Social Ahimsā begins with the awareness of the 'other'. Like one's own existence, it recognises the existence of other beings. In fact, to negate the existence of other beings is tantamount to negating one's own existence. Since one's own existence can not be negated, the existence of other beings also can not be negated. Thus there exists the universe of beings in general and that of human beings in particular. (uta H ati अमाइक्खेज्जा, णेव अत्ताणं अमाइक्खेज्जा। जे लोगं अमाइक्खति)20.
The Jaina Agama classifies living beings (Jīvas) into five kinds, namely, one-sensed to five-sensed beings.21 The minimum number of Prāņas possessed by the empirical self is four (one sense, one Bala, life-limit and breathing), and the maximum number is ten (five senses, three Balas, lifelimit, and breathing). The lowest in the grade of existence are the one-sensed Jīvas which possess only the sense of touch and they have only the Bala of body, and besides they hold life-limit and breathing. These one-sensed Jīvas admit of five-fold classification;22 namely, the earth-bodied (Pșthivīkāyika) water-bodied (Jala Kāyika) fire-bodied (Agnikāyika) air-bodied (Vāyukāyika) and lastly, vegetablebodied (Vanaspatikāyika) souls.
The two-sensed Jīvas posses six Prāņas, i.e., in addition to the four Prāṇas of one-sensed souls, they have two Prāņas
Spiritual Awakening (Samyagdarśana) and Other Essays