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The Jaina Path Of Ahimsa |
DR. VILAS SANGAVE
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PRINCIPLES OF
JAINISM
The fundamental principles of Jainism can be briefly stated as
follows.
- The first fundamental principle of Jainism is that, man's
personality is dual, that is, material and spiritual.
Jaina philosophy regards that every mundane soul is bound
by subtle particles of matter known as Karma from the
very beginning. It considers that just as gold is found
in an alloy form in the mines, in the same way mundane
souls are found along with the Karma bondage from time
eternal. The impurity of the mundane soul is thus treated
as an existing condition.
- The second principle that man is not perfect is based on
the first principle. The imperfectness in man is
attributed to the existence of Karma in his soul. The
human soul is in a position to attain perfection and in
that true and eternal state it is endowed with four
characteristics, viz., Ananta-darsana, Ananta-Jnana,
Ananta-virya and Ananta-sukha, i. e., infinite perception
or faith, infinite knowledge, infinite power and infinite
bliss.
- Even though man is not perfect, the third principle
states that by his spiritual nature man can and must
control his material nature. It is only after the entire
subjugation of matter that the soul attains perfection,
freedom and happiness. It is emphatically maintained that
man will be able to sail across the ocean of births and
achieve perfection through the control of senses and
thought.
- The last basic principle stresses that it is only each
individual that can separate his own soul and the matter
combined with it. The separation cannot be effected by
any other person. This means that man himself, and he
alone, is responsible for all that is good or bad in his
life. He cannot absolve himself from the responsibility
of experiencing the fruits of his actions. This principle
distinguishes Jainism from other religions, e. g.,
Christianity, Islam and Hinduism.
No God, nor His prophet or deputy or beloved can interfere
with human life. The soul, and that alone, is directly and
necessarily responsible for all that it does. God is regarded as
completely unconcerned with creation of the universe or with any
happening in the universe. The universe goes on of its own
accord. Because of this definite attitude towards God, Jainism is
accused of being atheistic. It is true in the sense that Jainism
does not attribute the creation of universe to God. But at the
same time Jainism cannot be labeled as atheistic because it
believes in Godhood, in innumerable gods, in Punya and Papa, i.
e., merit and demerit, in religious practices, etc. According to
Jainism the emancipated soul is considered as God and it is
absolutely not concerned with the task of creation of this world.