What is Jainism

Author(s): Champat Rai Jain
Publisher: Champat Rai Jain

Page 67

RELIGION AND COMPARATIVE RELIGION
57 any further preface. I select first of all the charming Hindu tri-murti of Surya, Indra, and Agni for elucidation, as it is one of the most remarkable of human conceptions in a pictorial garb.
Of these Surya is a symbol for Omniscience, for as the sun reveals all objects when it rises in the sky so does Omniscience reveal all objects of knowledge when it arises in the soul.
Indra stands for an impure ego, trafficking with the world through indriyas (the senses); and Agni is tapas personified, which is the cause of salvation. In a detailed way, Indra
(i) is the father of his own father ; (ii) he committed adultery with his own preceptor's wife; (iii) in consequence of this he was afflicted with ugly spots
all over his body ; (iv) finally, these were turned into eyes at the intervention of
Brahma. The correspondence of these is as follows : 1. (a) The adultery is the penetration of spirit into matter,
a forbidden act, since emancipation only signifies
release from the embrace of matter. (6) Life and Intellect are the two faculties of the soul of
which Life is continuous or enduring but Intellect is
subject to vicissitudes, e.g., its suspension in sleep. (c) The source of education to Life is Intellect, external
aids, books and teachers, being only instrumental but
not the real causes. (d) Intellect is as a rule inclined towards matter and
but rarely turns to the study of Life, e.g., European Intellectualism which has hitherto been confined to
soul-less' materialism. The conception of the penetration or entry of pure spirit into matter is that of a forbidden act (adultery) with what is most intimately related to (hence the wife of) Intellect, that is the true teacher of Life (hence its own guru).