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Studies in Indian Philosophy
In the good olden days, liberation was naively considered to be achievable if one does not kill the beings by the intentional activities of body-speech-mind activated by kaşāyas while performing the established disciplinery rules, and if all his accumulated karmas were scraped off by the performance of penace. However, the Jaina doctrinal theory of jiva-ajiva took its own course of development to the extent which, in fine, could not any more allow to maintain the naive old concept of liberation based on ahimsā. For, in the system of karma theory, the Jaina concept of liberation came to demand the sage to be endowed with kevala jñāna-darśana which can at any moment perceive all the phenomena occurring in the universe in the three tenses of time. This is an absolute impossibility in reality. Thus liberation came to be theoretically admitted impossible to be achievable by anyone any more. Even then, the Jaina authorities had to defend the reason d'etre of the Jaina School, and had to advocate that the Jainas are ever able to be salvated by being born in Mahāvideha. In the consequence, they had to create an impossible condition that the 14 Pārvadharas alone can achieve liberation. The problem of the Pārvas must have arisen in this conne. ction. Thus the Jainas naturally had to escape into the mytho. logical and mystical spheres in solving the critical problem of the method of liberation by keeping a logical consistency with the then developed theory of jiva-ajīva or karma doctrine.
The archaeological evidences show that the lay Jaina practice of Jina image worship dates back as early as the Mauryan age. The lay Jainas used to worship Jina images in kāyotsarga posture that is peculiar to the Jainas and in meditation posture that is universal practice to all the sects. Sitting images of Jinas in the posture of meditation make their appearance already in the Ayāga-paļas unearthed at Mathurā. Therefore, a common understanding that liberation is achievable by dhyāna was deeply rooted in the minds of the Jainas since the considerably olden days. Under this historical circumstances, it was only natural that the Jaina theore
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