Book Title: Studies in Jainism
Author(s): Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture Culcutta
Publisher: Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture Culcutta

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 156
________________ THE CONCEPTION OF SOUL IN JAINISM* Various conceptions about the form and nature of the V soul have been current among the different peoples of the world from the primitives of the present day scientist. In India alone is found a number of such conceptions. In the hymns of the Rgveda (X. 58. 1-12) we read that the soul of a man after death is invited to come back to him from the trees, herbs, the sky, the sun etc. Coming down to the Upanişadic literature, in one place we find that "the intelligent luminous self in the heart is as small as a grain of rice or barley, and yet it is the ruler of all this and whatever else exists”,' while in another, the soul is said to be of the size of the thumb.? In the Upanişads not often the ātman is spoken of as filling the whole extent of the body. It is said that was razor is placed in the razor-case, or fire in the firehearth, so does this conscious self pervade the body up to hairs and nails."3 Finally, here we meet with the conception that the soul is not being restricted to any part of the body but as being infinite and occupying all space. "It is eternal, all-prevailing, omnipresent, subtle and imperishable and is the origin of all beings, and the wise alone can perceive it."4 Next to the Upanişads, we come to the different philosophical systems. Sāmkhya-philosophers believe in the plurality of the ātman (Purusa). According to them the ātmanis formless, pure consciousness, eternal, all-pervading and subtle. It is a passive spectator and not an independent enjoyer of its actions. The Nyāya-vaiseșika system of thought treats the soul as a qualityless, characterless, indeterminate unconscious entity. It is absolutely immutable, all-pervading, * By courtesy: The Indian Historical Quarterly, Vol. XI, p. 137ff. Br. Up., V. 6.1 2. Katha Up., II. 2. 12. 3. Kaushtaki Up., IV. 20. 4. Mundaka Up., I. 6.

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182