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knows that evanescence is the law of life. But evanescent does not make it mithyā. On the other hand, it does not make it illusion, it also does not make them accept the fact of sūnyavāda. That is the point departure of these branches of Sramanic traditions. The Jains and Buddhist tradition. These are the very ancient traditions, which go back to the times of Vedas. The Jains opted more strongly for ātmavādī philosophy. The Soul is central. The Soul is vital to Jain philosophy. Soul is also there in Buddhist philosophy. I tried to examine their relationship in a big conference, which was held in Attamy, Japan, because I think the meeting point of Jainism and Buddhism are strong. The Arhat tradition is common to them both and yet in a sense, the point departure is very sharp.
Buddhism does not fully depend on ātmavādi, but it does not reject ātmā also. It has the theory of punarjanma. Punarjanma is something which is accepted. But anekānta is much closer to Sāmkya and Mīmāmsā. It is not so close to Vaiśesikī. The Vaiśesiki say a man or a thing perishes, it disappears. Jain Mīmāmsā says no, when a thing perishes it is transformed. It does not disappear altogether. It disappears from our view as a pot when it is broken. There is a very beautiful conversation with Lord Mahāvīra had on wholeness. He said do you think that a broken cakra is a whole of cakra? And he gives ten examples of this.
Jain have been accused of being Veda-virodhi. Lord Mahāvīra himself refused that concept. The whole point is that the reality has to be seen both in the perceptive of diversity and in the perceptive of unity. The following example is often given. There is a jar and you see the jar, but you do not see the clay, which it is made of. There is clay in the jar. If you do not accept the existence of clay in the jar then you accept only the form of the jar, without accepting the content of it what constitutes it. So it is important therefore, to compare Mīmāmsā and Sāmkya with anekānta philosophy because they maintain the cessation is not absolute. Dravya perishes, but it does not disappear altogether. It may be born, it may be in another shape. That is where the Vaiseșika and Sāmkya have formed their departure. That is where Jainism is in accord with Mīmāmsā. The Jain conception avoids two concepts, which are important. The concept of sūnya is avoided. In that respect one might say that the
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