1.Nature of Divinity in Jaina Philosophy: Religion as a way of life and
not merely as an institution, has been natural to man. It is man�s
reaction to the totality of things as he apprehends it. It implies an
interpretation of nature and the meaning of the universe. It seeks to go
beyond the veil of visible things and finds an inexhaustible fund of
spiritual power to help him in life�s struggle in this life. The ways of
god to ma and man I his struggles in this life. The ways of the gods have
been rich and varied. It may be, as Prof. Leuba pointed out, that fear was
the first of the emotions to become organised in human life, and out of
this fear God was born. Perhaps love and gratitude are just as natural, as
much integral parts of the constitution of man, as fear; and gods were
friendly beings it is still possible that men have looked at gods with
leaving sense of kinship and not with the vague fear of the unknown
powers.1 We do not know. But o etching is certain that in higher
religions fear is sublimated by love into an adoring reverence.2 From the
fear of the Lord in the old Testament to the worship of God� with
godly fear ad awe� is not a far cry.
In the Vedic period , we find a movement of thought from
polytheism to monotheism and then to monism. The poetic souls contemplated
the beauties of nature and the Indo-Iraia gods, like Deus, Varuna, Usas
and Mitra were products of this age. Other gods like Indra were Created to
meet the needs of the social ad political adjustments. Many gods were
worshipped. Then a weariness towards the many gods began to be felt as
they didi not know to what god they should offer oblations. Then a
theistic conception of God as a creator of the universe was developed out
of this struggle for the search of a divine being. In ancient Greece,
Xenophanes was against the polytheism of his time. Socrates had to drink
hemlock as he was charged of denying the national gods. He distinguished
between many gods and the one God who is the creator of the universe.
2. The Jaina Arguments against God: but the Jaias were against
gods in general and even the God as creator. They presented several
arguments against the theistic conception of God. They deny the existence
of a creator God and refute the theistic arguments of the Naiyayikas.
3.
i)It is difficult to understand the nature of the world as an effect:
a)
if
effect is to mean that which is made of parts (sacayva) then
even space is to be regarded as effect;
b)
if it
means coherence of a cause of a thing which was previously nonexistent, in
that case one cannot speak of the world as effect as atoms are eternal;
c)
if it
means that which is liable to change, then God would also be liable to
change� and he would need a creator to create him and another and so on
and infinitum. This leads to infinite regress.
ii)
Even supposing that the world as a whole is an effect ad eeds a cause, the
cause need not Abe ans. intelligent one God because:
a)
if he
is intelligent as the huma being is then he would be full of inperfectios,
as human intelligence is not perfect;
b)
if his
intelligence is not of the type of human intelligence but similar to it,
then it would not guarantee inference of the existence of God on
similarity, as we cannot infer the existence of fire o the ground of
seeing steam which is simulate to smoke;
c) we
are led to a vicious circle of argument if we can say that the word is
such that we have a sense that some one made it, as we have to infer the
sense for the fact of being created by God.
iii)
If an agent had created the world, he must have a body. For we have never
seen an intelligent agent without a body If a god is to produce an
intelligence and will this is also not possible without embodied
intelligence.4
iv)
Even supposing a non-embodied being were to create the world by his
intelligence, will and activity, there must be some motivation:
a)
if the
motive is just a personal whim, then there would be no natural law or
order in the world;
b)
if it
is according to the moral actions of me, then he is governed by moral
order and is not independent;
c)
if it
is through mercy, there should have been a perfect world full of
happiness;
d)
if men
are to suffer by the effects of past actions(adesta ) the adrsta
would take the place of God but, if God were to create the world
without any motive but only for sport it would be �moviveless malignity. 5
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