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Likewise, Pyrrho also seems to have propagated Jaina doctrines in Greece. Diogenes Lacrtius (IX 61 and 63) refers to the Gynosophists (Jainas) and asserts that Pyrrho of Elis, the founder of pure scepticism came under their influence and on his return to Elis imitated their habits of life1 Pyrrho's scepticism seem to be a corrupt form of the Jaina doctrine "Syadavada." And even the ancient Dionysian cult of Greece betrays signs of Jaina influence. It was the belief of the Dionysians that "the soul is in its nature divine, while the body is merely its prisonhouse." It makes its first appearance, in Greece as a result of the experiences of man in a state of ecstasy, notably in connection with the Dionysian cult. It was in fact, the triumphant advance of the Dionysian religion, which first gave currency to the conviction that the soul acquires bither to unsuspected powers once it is free from the trammels of the body."" Similary in the later period Plotinus asserted the divine nature of soul and said; "We say what He is not, we cannot say what He is This refers clearly to the immaterial nature of soul called Brahma.
399
The Greek mythology too, advocates the self-same teaching of soul's potential immortality and its transmigration as a result of its being in bondage with flesh.* The ancient Greeks worshipped nude images, like the Jainas.
Besides it the important and the visible feature of the spread of Jainism in Greece is the shrine of the Shramanacharya (the naked saint) at Athens,6 who hailed from Bayagaza, which shows clearly that there was once in prevalent an organised order (Sangha) of the Jainas.
1. Encylopaedia Britannica, (11th ed.), Vol. XII, P. 753. 2. Ibid, Vol. II, P. 80.
3. Modern Review, March 1948, P. 229.
4. Supplement to the Confluence of Opposites, P. 9-12. 5, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. IX. P. 232. 6. Indian Historical Quarterly, Vol. II, P. 293.
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Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat www.umaragyanbhandar.com
