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Jaina Ethics and its Refletions on Society
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of sorrow. The universality of misery according to him was birth, old age, decay, sickness, death, sorrow, grief, woe, lamentation and despair and not to get desired. Buddha perceived the existence of misery but he prescribed a way of redemption from it. He suggested four noble truths that:?
i) Misery exists (HCG: PORT) ii) It has a casual chain (5:04464 ) iii) It can be stopped (G:Cf218) and iv) There is way to get rid of it. (G:UFRIETAT Frygt)
There is a view that there are tangible means of getting rid of misery e.g. diseases can be cured by medicines and therefore one need not worry about ethics. But from another point of view there are objections to it. i) Firstly, it is not sure that a particular misery can be cured
by a tangible means without fail. ii) Secondly, a medicine may or may not cure the disease. iii) Thirdly, the relief is only temporary.
Therefore, one can not depend on tangible means. The root cause of the miseries has to be found and a check imposed so as to uproot miseries permanently and unfailingly. The necessity of a moral discipline is a must.
In the Jaina view Ācārya Śīlānka gives his commentary in the beginning of Ācārānga-sūtra ‘all creatures, over come by attachment, aversion and delusion tormented by various excessively bitter, physical and mental miseries should try to know that is good and what is bad for the removal of misery.!
Uttarādhyayana says that all worldly pleasure is suffering in the ultimate analysis.
“All singing is but prattle, all dancing is but mocking, all ornaments are but a burden, all pleasure produce but pain.'' Jaina thinkers gave a formula that; Āśrava (inflow of karmic matter causing misery) is the cause of birth and rebirth while Saṁvara
