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Study of Jainism
b) If it is according to the moral actions of men, then he is
governed by moral order and is not independent ;
c)
If it is through mercy, there should have been a perfect world full of happiness ;
d) If men are to suffer by the effects of past actions (adrsta)
then the ad [sta would take the place of God.
But, if God were to create the world without any motive but only for sport it would be ‘motiveless malignity'.
v) God's omnipresence and omniscience cannot also be accepted, because : a) If he is everywhere, he absorbs into himself everything
into his own self, leaving nothing to exist outside him ;
b) His omniscience would make him experience hell, as he
would know everything and his knowledge would be direct experience.5
vi) It is not possible to accept the Naiyayika contention that without the supposition of God, the variety of the world would be inexplicable, because we can very well posit other alternatives like (i) the existence of the natural order and (ii) a society of gods to explain the universe.
But if a society of gods were to quarrel and fall out as it is sometimes contended, then the nature of gods would be quite so unreliable, if not vicious, that we cannot expect elementary cooperation that we find in ants and bees.
The best way, therefore, is to dispense with God altogether.
We find similar objections against the acceptance of a theistic God, in Buddhism also. The Buddha was opposed to the conception of Isvara as a creator of the universe. If the world were to be thus created, there should be no change nor destruction, nor sorrow nor calamity.
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