________________
THE JAIN CONCEPTION OF UNIVERSE' WITH SPECIFIC
REFERENCE TO THE SOTRAKRTANGA
O Dr. Ch. Lalitha
The Sūtrakstānga and its sigojficace in the Jain Canonical Literature :
The Jain Agama or Siddhānta Texts which were compiled sometime between 5th and 6th century A.D. have been systematised into six kinds They are namely (i) Angas (ii) Upangas (iii) Cheda sūtras (iv) Culikasūtras (v) Mulasūtras and (vi) Prakrinikas. Of the above there are eleven extant Angas among which the Sutrakstānga stands as the second one.
As regards the text of Sūtrakstânga, it is assigned into two sections which are known as Srutaskandhas, of these the first section consists of sixteen Adhyananas and the second part comprisce of seven. The major protion of the first Srutaskanda is written in verse from and most contents of the second book is composed in prose.
The Sutrakrtånga is considered by eminent Scholars? as an momentous philosophical treatise. The religious life of a Jain Monk and the refutation of Non-Jain views are the central theme of the text. This sutra exhorts novices of the Jain Monastic Order to keep themselves away from manifold heretical doctrines.
In the Sutrakstānga the themes of the inhabited universe (loka), empty space (aloka), lokaloka, soul (Jiva), non-soul (ajiva), one's own doctrines (Svasamaya) and the tenets of others (Parasamaya) are discussed.
11
Jain conception of the universe
The Philosophical issues, like the basic source of the upiverse, the principal class of things and the psychic and non-psychic elements of the universe are the philosophia perennis of Jainism. According to Mahāvīra as stated in the Bhagavati-sūtra the universe is composed of the five extensive substances. They are the mediums of motion, the medium of rest, space soul and matter. Jainism looks at life and the universe from the point of view of rational analysis and then transcends the stages of reason to enter into the stage of intuition and direct experience.
The entire cosmos comprising our world may be termed as the
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
