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264
SVASTI – Essays in Honour of Prof. Hampa Nagarajaiah
Now we come to the next question: how can one attain this equanimity of mind? Mere verbal saying that I shall observe the equanimity of mind and refrain from all types of injurious activities does not have any meaning unless we seriously practice it in our life.
For this, first of all, one should know what are the causes which disturb our equanimity of mind and then make an endeavor to eradicate them.
It is very easy to say that one should observe the equanimity of mind. But in practice it is very difficult to attain it. As our mental faculty is always in grip of attachment and aversion, whatever we think or do is always motivated by either attachment or aversion. Because the vectors of attachment and aversion are solely responsible for the disturbance of mental equanimity, so the practice to attain
quanimity depends on the eradication of attachment and aversion. So long as we do not eradicate the attachment and aversion, we are unable to attain equanimity or Samatva Yoga.
Impacts of other Yoga systems on Jaina Yoga in this period.
So far as the impact of other Yoga systems on Jaina Yoga is concerned, in the second phase, the canonical period, different schools of thought have taken a definite shape with their particular names. In this period we do find in the Jaina Yoga system various similarities with that of Buddhism and Patañjali. Pandit Sukhalalji in his introduction of Tattvārthasūtra has discussed these common features in detail. But according to these similarities or common features it is very difficult to prove one's impact on the another, though it can be generally accepted that these systems have a common source, from which they are developed and this common source was the Indian Sramanic tradition. In the later times, particularly in the Sūtra-age we do find some common features in Patañjali's Yogasūtra and Umāsvāti's Tattvārthasūtra, but being named and explained differently, they cannot be used to prove an impact of one on the other. Though Pt. Sukhalalji has given 21 common points of conceptual similarity between TS and Yoga darśana,21 yet these common features conceptually denote only the same meaning, but their names are totally different, except for some of them. Due to this difference we cannot say that one system has borrowed these from the other. It shows only the common source of them. In this canonical age Jainism has its own method of meditation and it is fully accepted as that by which the ultimate end of emancipation can be achieved. In Jaina canonical works as well as in the Dhyānaśataka of Jinabhadra the meditation was considered of four kinds. In these four types of meditations the first two ārta and raudra) were considered as the cause of bondage and the last two (dharma and śukla) were considered as the cause of emancipation. So far as I know this classification in four types is only the contribution
21 Ibidem.
