Structure and Functions of Soul in Jainism

Author(s): S C Jain
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith

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to be shown that bliss stands for the feeling capacity of the soul, and is responsible for the generation of pleasure and pain. Many critics of the Jaina philosophy are of the opinion that the Jaina has not been able to establish the plurality of the souls. This topic has been discussed in the seventh chapter wherein the writer has sought to maintain that the very theory of the soul as propounded by the Jaina leads to the truth of the plurality of souls. The eighth chapter divided into four sections deals with different aspects of Jaina eschatology. The materiality of Karmas, which is a unique contribution of the Jaina to the theory of Karma, has been established by means of a number of arguments. Another ingredient of the Jaina theory of Karma is the conception of the negativity of the soul, which, in the light of the theory of dharmas or traits, finds a fresh interpretation in this thesis. A new classification of the Karma-forces is made to bring the Jaina doctrine of Karma into close agreement with modern psychology. The problem of determinism and indeterminism seems to have been better solved if considered in the light of the non-absolutism of the Jaina. The ninth chapter is divided into two sections. The first section is devoted to the Jaina theory of liberation-its possibility and the manifestation of the soul's powers in the state of liberation. The second section begins with Kundakunda's theory of the pure soul which directly leads to the theories of the absolute. The conceptions of the absolute as given by Sankara, the Madhyamika (as interpreted by T.R.V. Murti, Hegel and Bradley) have been considered. It is concluded that reality does not imply an absolutism, but is of the nature of the non-absolute.
I feel highly grateful to Dr. B.G. Tiwari, M.A., Ph.D., D. Litt. under whose scholarly and encouraging guidance I had the fortune to conduct my work. I must here express my hearty thanks to all the thinkers whose works and views I have used and quoted in the present dissertation.
My most sincere thanks are due to Bharatiya Jnanpith for sponsoring the publication of this work in that prestigious Granthamala, under the patronage of Shri Sahu Shriyans