Book Title: What is Jainism
Author(s): Champat Rai Jain
Publisher: Champat Rai Jain

Previous | Next

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). Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210