________________
ŚRIMAD BHAGAVADGITĀ: A JAIN PERSPECTIVE : 35 This is how a Jain would perceive the setting of Gītāand Mahābhārata. I have touched some of the general trends of Jain perspectives of Gītā. However, this article would not be serving its purpose if I refrain from referring to some main features of complete similarities between Gītā and Jain philosophy. Features showing Complete Similarities Bhagvadgītā has notable similarities with some of the Jaina Literature like Uttarādhyayana-sūtra', Praśamarati-prakarana'' of Umāswäti, Šāstravārttā-samuccaya' and Lokatattvanirņayal of Haribhadra, Padmapurāņa of Ravişeņa, Bharateśvara-Bāhubali24 by Subhaśīla etc. Similarly, throughout the verses of Gītā, one finds copious references to Sāṁkhya philosophy of Kapila and all students of philosophy know about the closeness between Sāmkhya and Jain philosophies, with the result that though there are some fundamental differences between Vedic and Jain approaches, the author of Gītā has produced masterly synthesis of all contemporary thoughts, without making any direct reference to either Jainism or any of its contemporary religious doctrines of Buddhism or atheistic philosophies such as “Ajīvakas”. This suggests that Gītā might have been composed before the advent of Mahāvīra and Buddha when Sāṁkhya of Kapila dominated the field of philosophy. The fact however remains that wherever Gītā has approved Sāṁkhya doctrines it has automatically approved Jain doctrines also because of the close similarities between these two. Main features which are common between Sāmkhya and Jainism rule out the notion that there is some independent authority called “God” who has created this universe and who monitors all its events. The question which then arises is: If there is no God to manage these universal affairs, how these huge phenomenal affairs are systematized? The answer provided by Kapila's Sāmkhya is that this is an automatic play of “Purușa” and “Prakrti.”Purușa means a dynamic force called Supreme Soul, which is never born and which exists in eternity and Praksti consists of lifeless material elements and has inherent power of evolution having three “Guņas” (attributes) called “Sattva” (good), “Rajas” (active) and “Tamas" (bad). This Praksti is also
