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STUDIES IN JAIN LITERATURE
my nature; and when the new day of time begins I bring them again into light. Thus through my nature I bring forth all creation, and this rolls round in the circles of time... I am the Father of this universe and even the Source of the Father. I am the Mother of this universe, and the creator of all..."
Uttarā describes the universe as uncreated, eternal, without a beginning and an end. It explicitly says : 1. Dharma, 2. Adharma, 3. Space, 4. Time, 5. Matter and, 6. Souls (are the six kinds of substances), they make up-constitutethis world, as has been taught by the Jinas who possess the best knowledge?.
(iii) BG assures the readers of the existence of God, his incarnations (avatāras, Krsna being the eighth avatāra of Lord Visnu) and also assures his devotees that they would reach him at the end of their life on earth and promises that women, vaisyas, as well as sūdras who may be pāpayonis (of sinful birth) when seek shelter in him attain to the Supreme Goal. Uttarā outright denies the existence of God and declares that the law of karma is inexorable-relentlessand nobody can escape the consequences of one's own deeds.
(iv) BG, as a rule, stands for traditional Vedic sacrifice-although on one or two occasions it praises the japa or jñāna-yajña as far superior to dravyayajña :
In the concluding chapter Krsna declares unequivocally : Works of sacrifice, gift and austerity should not be abandoned but should indeed be performed; for these three are works of purification in the case of the wise. But even these works should be performed without any attachment and expectation of a reward; this O Arjuna, is my firm and final opinion."10 In Ch.3 Krsna speaks with admiration/approval of the famous yajña-cakra-pravarntana-Setting in motion the wheel of yajña (lit. sacrifice)-the wheel of the world. Ch. 4. 28 enumerates dravya-yajña, tapo-yajña, yoga-yajña, svādhyāya-yajña and jñānayajña but makes no mention of japa-yajña. But Krsna while revealing some manifestations of his divine glory to Arjuna declares : "Of offerings (or prayers) I am the offering of japa (silent repetition) (or the prayer of silence)".
In Ch.4 while describing various kinds of sacrifice Krsna distinctly says: “Superior is the sacrifice of wisdom to the sacrifice with objects, O Arjuna (harasser of your foes) ! All work, without exception, O Arjūna (Pārtha—son of Prthā), culminates in wisdom-is comprehended in wisdom_" For wisdom is in truth the end of all holy work12.
It would seem that BG is definitely in favour of sacrifice of wisdom and it describes other traditional yajñas as a concession to tradition. In the days of
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