World Of Jainism

Author(s): Vishwanath Pandey
Publisher: Vishwanath Pandey

Page 73

THE WORLD OF JAINISM
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and realization of its development. Tattvartha Sutra (chap. II) gives an exhaustive classifications of jivas from different points of view and narrates their qualities. For example, jivas are either liberated (mukta) or mundane (samsari). Again, these have several divisions. Similarly, jivas are classified from the point of view of number of senses they have or the places (lokas) they inhabit, viz., hell, heaven, etc. They are classified from the point of view of species to which they belong and so on. However, these divisions and sub-divisions no doubt elaborate, do not provoke much philosophical insight. In all these, the emphasis is laid on the fact that even the minutest particles have life. This is known as the hylozoistic theory of the Jainas.
The fact that the Jaina Sutras reveal the earliest strata of Indian thought is reflected in the passage quoted below which contain the primitive idea of self. Here, the liberated self is thought of as straight line moving up in the sky (akasa), an imagination which is so common in the Vedic belief that the souls move upward either to the abode of gods (Devayana or Deva Loka) or to that of ancestor (Pitrayana or Pitra Loka). "Then having, by all methods, got rid of his audarka, karmana and (tai jasa) bodies, the soul takes the form of a straight line, goes in one moment, without touching anything and taking up no space, (upward to the highest Akasa), and there develops into its natural form, obtains perfection, enlightenment, deliverance, and final beautitude and puts end to all misery” 35
As regards the problem of existence of self, it is held that since the self is immaterial it cannot be apprehended by the senses. And since it is non-corporeal, it is eternal. Now, the question arises as to how do we know that the self exists. The Buddhists reject the existence of self on the ground that it is an unverifiable entity. The Jainas argue like the Upanisadic thinkers that the seer cannot be seen, yet its existence is implied in the very act of seeing. "The self is the knower (or experiencer), and the knower is the self. That through which one knows is the self. With regard to this (to know) it (the self) is established. Such is he who maintains the right doctrine of self”.38
As has been stated above, of the five inanimate substances, dharma (medium of motion), adharma (rest), akasa (space), and kala (time) are without form and pudgala (matter) is with form. These elements are permanent in their nature and are the sole constituents of the universe. The last substance, namely, pudgala, has touch, taste, smell, and colour as its attributes. Pudgala consists of innumerable atoms and its cons
35. Uttaradhyayana, XXXIV, 73. 36. Ibid, XVI, 19 also Akaranga Sutra, 1, 5, 6. 38. Akaranga Sutra, I, 5, 5.
37. Ibid.