Book Title: Studies in the Bhagavati Sutra
Author(s): J C Sikdar
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur
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TENTH CHAPTER.
Contribution of the Bhs to the evolution of Jaina.
Philosophical thought.
FIRST SECTION.
Jaina Metaphysics
At the dawn of civilization man began to ponder over the problem of life and phenomena of Nature with a feeling of admiration, awe and wonder which animated him to religious acts and to probe into them with a speculative thought to interpret and explain the deeper' meanings of life and Nature. His thirst for knowledge born out of his spiritual urge led him to understand things relying upon his internal senses.
These were the haunting questions to his inquist tive mind ; what is life, what is Nature, how have they originated and evolved, etc. ? His admiration was the first expression of sentiments which revealed themselves as the aesthetic idea at a more advanced stage, while wonder and inquisitiveness guided him later to develop "his philosophy, his religion and science”. Since then in every country the quest for knowledge of these problems of life and Nature started among the thinkers and thus different systems of philosophy evolved out of their self-consciousness, thoughts and experiences to interpret and explain the underlying fundamental principles which govern life and the Universe.
In India this quest for knowledge of life and Nature started in the Rgvedic age and it has continued upto the present day, contributing to the evolution of philosophical thoughts with speculative daring of many sages. Thus these questions on life and the Universe haunted the speculative mind of the Vedic sage of Nāsadiya hymn "From whence did it spring forth, from whence was
i Religion and Rational outlook- Dr. S. N. Dasgupta, p. 44
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