Studies in Jainism

Author(s): Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture Culcutta
Publisher: Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture Culcutta

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STUDIES IN JAINISM
sāmayika, which is the first and foremost duty among six essential duties of monks and householders. Now the question is how this peace can be attained. According to the Jaina view-point, it is through the practice of nonattachment or non-hoarding (aparigraha or asarngraha), non-violence (ahimsā), and non-absolutism (anekānta or anāgraha) that we establish peace and harmony in the world.
ATTACHMENT THE CAUSE OF MENTAL TENSIONS
As I have already mentioned, the most burning problem of our age is the problem of mental tension. Nations that claim to be more civilized and more economically advanced are much more in the grip of mental tension. The main object of Jainism is to emancipate man from his sufferings and mental tensions. First of all, we must know the cause of these mental tensions. For Jainism the basic human suffering is not physical, but mental. Mental suffering or tension is due to our attachment to worldly objects. It is attachment which is fully responsible for them. The famous Jaina text Uttaradhyayana-sūtra states, “The root of all suffering, physical as well as mental, of everybody, including gods, is attachment to the objects of worldly enjoyment.' It is attachment which is the root cause of mental tension. Only a detached attitude towards the objects of worldly enjoyment can free mankind from mental tension. According to Lord Mahāvīra, 'to remain attached to sensuous objects is to remain in the whirl.' He says, 'Misery is gone in the case of a man who has no delusion, while delusion is gone in the case of a man who has no desire; desire is gone in the case of a man who has no greed, while greed is gone in the case of a man who has no attachment. The efforts made to satisfy human desires through material objects can be likened to the chopping off of the branches while watering the roots. Thus we can conclude that the lust for and the attachment to the objects of worldly pleasure is the sole cause of human suffering.
If mankind is to be freed from mental tension, it is necessary to grow a detached outlook on life. Jainism believes