Studies In Umasvati And His Tattvartha Sutra

Author(s): G C Tripathi, Ashokkumar Singh
Publisher: Bhogilal Laherchand Institute of Indology

Page 62

52 Studies in Umāsvāti
Jina is subject to eleven hardships (parīṣahas), which begin with hunger (ksut), thirst (pipāsā), cold (śīta), heat (uṣṇa), and so forth. He disagrees with Pujyapada's interpretation of this sūtra that the presence of the parīṣahas in the Jina should be taken figuratively (upacārataḥ) because of the continued presence of the physical karmic matter known as dravya vedaniya karma similar to the expression 'the kevalin meditates (dhyāna)' even though the function of stopping all thought, which is the essence of meditation, does not actually exist in an omniscient being. He also rejects Pujyapada's alternative suggestion to amend the sūtra by adding the words 'na santi' (they do not exist) because of the absence of feelings of hunger and so forth aided by mohaniya, on the grounds that each karma has its own distinct function and it is not proper to subsume one karma under another.34 He reaffirms his doctrine that vedaniya is the true adversary karma of kṣāyika-sukha. He even contends that avyābādha, which often has been employed as a synonym for sukha, is actually a distinct quality, one that manifests when all eight karmas are destroyed and not any one particular karma.35
This brings us back to the problem raised earlier concerning the nature of sukha (in mokṣa) described as avyābādha by Umāsvāti. Kundakunda is convinced that omniscience and infinite energy are not compatible with any form of suffering and thus he seems almost to be appropriating the function of vedaniya karma for mohaniya. He then claims that with the destruction of mohanīya-invariably followed soon thereafter by the annihilation of the three remaining ghātī karmas--the kevalin attains infinite sukha. The problems rising from the continued embodiment of the kevalin seem to be solved by recourse to the device of an extraordinary variety of a most auspicious (paramasubha) and subtle matter (no-karma) that automatically flows unhindered into the kevalin's body and thus sustains it to the end of his life. This operation, however, does not appear to be due to the end of the mohaniya. As was noted above, according to Pujyapāda (who seems to be the earliest to articulate such a view)