Study in the Origins and Development of Jainism

Author(s): S N Shrivastava
Publisher: Rekha Publication Gorakhpur

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The Antiquarian Significance of Some of the Basic Concepts of Jain Philosophy
The elements of the Jain religion and philosophy may be traced back to inchoate thoughts of a very early period. About a century ago Hermann Jacobi had pointed out the ancient character of the Jain philosophy in his scholarly notes in the introductions of the Jain Sūtras, published in the Sacred Books of the East series'. While dwelling upon the data available from the Buddhist and the Jain literature regarding the antiquity of Jainism, he specifically took note of three points of the Jain philosophy which are of great antiquarian significance, viz.
1. The animistic beliefs of the Jains
2.
3.
The absence of the category of quality in their enumeration of the principal constituent elements of the universe.
The inclusion of dharma and adharma, the principles of motion and stationariness, in the class of substances2.
It is to be noted that H. Jacobi did the commendable task of drawing the attention of scholars to these important points of the Jain studies but left them to be taken up by the coming generations. It is