RELEVANCE OF JAINISM

Jainism : 

Concept of Real(Sat),Dravya,Guna,Paryaya : On the point of substance,two extreme views has been expressed by Buddhism and Advaita.According to Buddhists,there is only fleeting state of empirical phenomenon.There isn’t any permanent substance.Premanent substance is merely the figment of imagination.Just opposite to this view of Buddhism is Advaitic view,according to which only permanent substance exist.Whitout this substratum qualities will be baseless and wouldn’t exist.

Jain philosophy takes stand on the middle path between the two extremes of Buddhism and Advaita.According to Jainism,substance is neither merely immutable nor momentary,everchanging entity.Reality is something permanent(dhruva) as substratum with ever-changing modes.This productive quality is called Utpada in Jainism and fading out of them is called vyaya.According to Dr S N Dasgupta, “The conception of Being as the union of the permanence and change brings us naturally to the doctrine of Anekantavada or which we may call relative pluralism as against the extreme absolutism of the Upanishads and the pluralism of the Buddhists.”

Words like tattva,sat,reality,substance etc. has been used synonymously in Jainism.Reality and substance,in Jainism,has been used in the same sense.It has been written in the Tattvarthasutra, ‘Reality is the characteristic of substance.

It has been said in Jainism that anything which is non-existent cannot exist and anything which is existent cannot become non-existent.Substance changes through its qualities and modes.Matter and consciousness both are real,though they are not contradictory in nature.

Reality has various qualities.So,to know anybody,we are supposed to know everything,like space,time,caste,birth,dharma,category etc. about the person.We should know the positive as well as negative qualities of the person.Positive qualities of thing is called svaparyaya while negative qualities are called paraparyaya in Jainism.

The characteristics of Reality are,utpada,vyaya and dhrauvya,according to Tattvarthasutra.In other words,anything which has qualities and modes,is substance.According to N K Devaraj, “The word mode has been used here for change while quality has been used for something constant.Though,the thing apparently changes and the new one originates,but inspite of all these superficial changes,the basic element of the thing lies intact.This immutable aspect of the thing is called dhrauvya in Jainism.The other name for this dhrauva is,Tadbhavyaya .

Prof.Devaraj has quoted Acharya Kundakunda’s definition of Reality as anything which is constant by nature,qualified by utpada,vyaya and dhrauvya and has attributes and modes is called Dravya.Since,Dravya

Sat and Satta, all these three are synonymous,so this definition is appropriate for all these three.

Substance is something general which cannot be classified,theoretically.But from the point of view of practical aspect of reality,it has been classified into seven categories,as : Jiva,Ajiva,Ashrava,Bandha,Samvara,Nirjara and Moksha.Somtimes they will add papa and punya also in these seven categories of substance.

Jiva-Ajiva : According to Jainism,there are two categories which are-jiva and ajiva.Jiva is conscious while ajiva is unconscious.Ajivas are matter,space,motion,rest and time.Substance having constituent parts like,spirit,matter,motion,rest and and space are called astikaya dravyas while time which has no constituent part is called anastikaya dravya.

Quality wise jivas of Jainism are same while quantity wise they differ.Jain theory of jiva is pluralistic.Liberated and bound are two types of jivas.Bound souls are of two types: mobile and immobile.Immobile souls have only one sense-organ,while mobile souls have different categories of two,three,four senses.

Souls are conscious ones. But there is hierarchy of consciousness among the jivas,according to their karmas.By nature soul has infinite faith,infinite knowledge,infinite bliss and infinite power.But this nature of soul is veiled due to karma and he becomes limited being.That’s why

 there is relativity in the knowledge of man.

The nature of soul is,light.It permeates in the space,it lies.When it resides in the body it takes the shape of the body.Knowledge is the nature of the soul.Due to confinement in the body and limitation of senses and mind its capacity of infinite knowledge becomes relative and limited. Freedom from the materiality of the body leads to liberation.

Ajivas are matter,space,motion,rest and time.Time doesn’t have any materiality.That’s why it does not extend.Since it is not something concrete,it cannot be perceived.Being abstract it cannot be divided.According to some Jain philosophers there are two types of time-real and empirical.Empirical time is known by the changes within a certain span of time.Real or eternal time is the unending flow of time.

The definition of space as quoted by S P N Sharma is, ‘A point of space is defined as that which can be obstructed by one indivisible atom of matter and which can give space to all particles.In such a point of space,one unit of dharma,one unit of adharma and one unit of time resides.”

Space is infinite,eternal and imperceptible like time.It is the locus of things.There are two types of space,according to Jainism:one is lokakasha and another is alokakasha.Only lokakasha is related to the phenomenal world,while alokakasha is the world of noumenal reality.

Another material element,according to Jainism is dharma and adharma,which are used here not in their popular sense of merit and demerit,but in the technical sense of the conditions of movement and rest,according to C D Sharma .

Dharma and adharma are also eternal,imperceptible and formless.Not itself motion and rest,both are supportive and obstructive of motion.Since matter is the condensed form of energy,particles of it can be integrated and disintegrated.The constituent parts of matter are called ‘pudgal’ in Jainism.Being the conglomeration of particles,it is called sanghata or skandha in Jainism out of which sense,mind and body etc. are created.Colour,taste,smell,touch are the four qualities of matter.While sound has been rejected as quality but accepted as modification of matter.All atoms are similar to each other on the level of quality.Karma pudgals are subtle form of matter.They penetrate into the souls of jivas and become the cause of their bondage.

Anekantavada :

In the words of C D Sharma, ‘Jain metaphysics is a realistic and relativistic pluralism.’The Jainas believed that nothing could be affirmed in absolute terms.There are certain conditions and limitations related to any assertion of truth.As Dr. Dasgupta writes: ‘The Jains regarded all things at anekanta (na-ekanta)or in other words they hold that nothing could be affirmed absolutely as all affirmations were true only under certain conditions and limitations.”

Our view being limited and the objects and their qualities being infinite,it is not possible for us to know everything about an object.To know all the qualities of an object,we must be omniscient.Lacking that,we can know only some of the aspects of a thing.According to Jainas,to know all the qualities of one thing, is to know,all the qualities of all things and to know all the qualities of all things is to know all the qualities of one thing.This relative theory of Jain’s epistemology is called ‘syadavada’.Metaphysics regarding the innumerability of qualities and things is called ‘Anekantavada’ while epistemology,related to the relative knowlrdge of objects is called ‘syadavada’.

Substance is defined as that which possesses qualities and modes.According to Jainism,substance is that which possesses three different characteristics like production,destruction and permanence.The immutable and permanent aspect is called substance,which is the substratum or the underlying reality of all things while production and destruction pertains to modes.They are everchanging.Continuously they are being created and destroyed.Permanent qualities of substance are called attributes.Thus permanence and temporality are two aspects of the reality.So,by accepting many aspects of the same reality it became,Anekantavadi.

Syadavada : According to C D Sharma, ‘The word syat is used here in the sense of the relative and the correct translation of ‘syadavada’ is

 the theory of relativity of knowledge.

Out of innumerable aspects of Reality,we can know only few one.So,our knowledge is partial and incomplete from the point of view of the nature of the thing.So,according to Jainism,we should use the world ‘syat’ before giving any judgement,taking into consideration the limitation of our knowledge.Since we don’t know anything about the universal aspect of that thing,so we cannot make any judgement which is absolute in nature.Since one aspect of reality is indeterminate and another determinate,it is not self-contradictory to give both positive and negative  statement at the same time.That’s why all our judgements are conditional.The same thing is from one point of view positive while from another point of view that very object may be negative one.It can be at the same time real as well as unreal.From one point ofview it is universal and from another point of view that is particular.From one point of view that is universal and one while from another point of view that is particular and many.The cause of difference lies in the difference of substance and modes.All philosophical and religious discards are due to the one-sidedness of our view which is understood as integral one.

This type judgement is called ‘durniti’ or bad judgement in Jainism.Without ascertaining anything about the relativity or absoluteness of any judgement ,say something is called ‘naya’.Expression of any partial truth with different possibilities is called ‘pramana’.Use of  ‘syat’ is must to avoid any contradiction.

Things exist in themselves as absolutely real and infinitely complex reality but our knowledge of them is relative.According to Jainism there are seven kinds of judgements which are called sapta bhangi naya.The following are the seven judgements:

1. Syadasti.

2.Syannasti.

3.Syadasti nasty.

4.Syadavaktavyam.

5.Syadasti cha avaktavyam.

6.Syannasti cha avaktavyam.

7.Syadastichanasticha avaktavyam.

Nayavada :

We cannot know anything in its totality and knowing anything from one point of view is to know that thing partially.This partial knowledge is called ‘naya’ in Jainism.This naya is synonymous with the partial aspect of reality because we can know only one mode of any object,out of infinite modes.Pramana and naya,both are related to knowledge.When we know any object in its totality then it is called pramana and when we know only one mode of that object then it is called

naya.So,pramana is said to be ‘sakaladeshi’ while naya is vikaladeshi.It is remarkable that though naya gives prominence to only one aspect of the object and gives secondary place to other aspects yet it never denigrates them.So,there is every possibility of becoming the naya as sunaya.

Since,every object has infinite qualities and naya takes into consideration only one of them.So there can be infinite nayas.It is said that there can be as many nayas as there can be words to express different intentions.Those infinite intentions can be included in two viewpoints. One is dravyarthika and another is paryayathika.All the general viewpoints are included in dravyarthica view and particular views are included in paryayarthika view.

1.Naigama Naya :Viewing something from both universal and particular aspects is Naigama naya.Here we don’t distinguish between the two.The fallacy occurs regarding it,when we distinguish between them and view them separately as real and absolute.

Sangraha Naya :Giving emphasise on the universal aspect and avoid the particulars is called ‘Sangraha Naya’.The fallacy occurs when the universals are treated as real and particular are rejected as unreal.

Vyavahara Naya :Taking into consideration only concrete particulars and their qualities is called vyavahara naya.The fallacy occurs when the particulars are accepted as real and universals are rejected as unreal.

Rijusutra Naya :Here momentariness is considered as real one.Particulars are viewed as a series of moments.When this partial aspect of reality is accepted as universal truth,the fallacy occurs.

Nayas related to words are three.Which are as follows:

1.Shabda Naya:The first one is called shabda naya.Word and its relation to meaning is significant here.Meaning of a word is the thing or quality or action or relation,it refers to.

2.Samabhiruda Naya :The second one is samabhirudha naya.It gives emphasis on the etymological meaning of the word.

3.Evambhuta Naya :This third naya is special form of the second one.Here,the meaning of the word must be applied on the object.If the object contains the very quality which is being indicated by the word,then only it must be used.

These nayas are only partial aspect of reality and to take them as whole truth is fallacious.

Theory of Knowledge : Jainas have accepted two types of knowledge – immediate and mediate.Immediate knowledge is of three types.According to them,which are-avadhi,manahparyaya and kevala.While mediate knowledge is of two types – mati and shruta.Perception is accepted as mediate knowledge,according to Jainism.So,it falls within the realm of mati.Perception,includes mental activities,besides sense-object contact.So,it cannot be regarded as direct knowledge.Inference is also included in,mati.Shruta,is scriptural knowledge.

Immediate knowledge is not based on sense-object contact.That’s why it is called extra-sensory perception.Avadhi,manahparyaya and kevala-jnana are this type of knowledge.Due to enlightenment there occurs the expansion of self.This ecpanded self can know anything which is at distance and beyond the reach of sense-organs.This type of knowledge is called avadhi in Jainism.Due to higher level of quality of soul,the yogis can sense even subtle elements like thoughts of others.This type of knowledge is called manah paryaya.Kevala jnana is only property of liberated souls.It is unlimited and absolute knowledge,which is possible for those souls who have reached to the level of cosmic consciousness.There are three kinds of wrong knowledge mentioned by Jainas – which are doubt,mistake and wrong knowledge through indifference.

Bondage and Liberation:

Body and soul come together through karma.Anger,greed,pride and delusion are the four kasayas which attract karmic particles towards the soul.The flow of karmic particles towards soul is called ashrava in Jainism.This association of karmic particles with soul is called bandha.Ashrava conceals the real nature of jiva and consequently it is exposed to bondage.The procedure of bondage has two stages,according to Jainism.Conscious thoughts and feelings are the cause of bondage.Ashrava of pudgals is due to thoughts and feelings.Due to this bhavashrava,the soul falls within the trap of bhava-bandha.And the penetration of karma pudgals in soul is called

dravyashrava.This ashrava of karma pudgals is the cause of bondage.

R N Sharma has mentioned forty two kinds of ashravas.Out of these,kayayoga,vagyoga,manoyoga,five sense-organs four kasayas and non-observance of five vratas,e.g.,non-violence,truth,etc.are especially important.In addition to these there are  near about twenty five small ashravas.All of them lead to human bondage.

The veiling of the real nature of the jiva,which is samyak darshan,samyak jnana,samyak charitra,is due to these karmashravas.To stop this influx of fresh karma is samvara.To exhaust the already existing karmas I called nirjara (wearing out).Since these karma particles are the cause of association of soul with the body,absence of them leads to dissociation of them.And the soul regains its real nature,which is infinite knowledge,bliss,faith and power.This is the liberated state of soul.This liberated soul stays in the ‘siddha-shila’ in eternal knowledge and bliss.