Prof. Sagarmal Jain
We are living in the age of science and technology. The growth of the
scientific knowledge and technology have given new dimensions to our life
and influenced each and every field of our living. Science has done a
great service to mankind by providing amenities of pleasant living and
saved him from many miseries and uncertainties of the primitive past. It
has also destroyed many superstitions and religious dogmas, but at the
same time it has also uprooted the moral, religious and cultural values of
our society. Our traditional religious values and beliefs have been thrown
away by this growth of scientific knowledge and out-look. We know much
about the atom but not about the values needed for a meaningful and
peaceful life. We are living in the state of chaos. Our life is full of
excitements, emotional disorders and value conflicts. Thus our age is also
the age of anxiety and mental tensions.
Today what is needed for a man, is mental peace and a complete integration
with his own personality as well as with his social environment. Can
religion, in general and Jainism in particular meet this need of our
times? Yes, it can. Religion for Jain thinkers, does not mean some
superstitions, dogmas and rituals, it has some eternal virtues and values,
which can meet the needs of the time. First of all we should try to
understand its real meaning and essence.
The Essence of
Religion
Our fundamental question is what we mean by the term religion? Many of the
western scholars define religion as faith. Prof. E. B. Taylor writes
“Religion is the belief in spiritual beings.”1 Prof., Hoffding
mentions “Religion is faith in the conservation of values.”2
According to Jaina thinkers also the inner core of religion is faith, but
it is the faith in our own existence and our own real nature, religion is
a firm belief in some eternal and spiritual values which are more
essential for the uplift and existence of mankind. In the famous Jaina
text, Kartikeyanupreksa dharma (religion) is defined as the real
nature of the things.3 If it is so, then question arises what
is the real nature of human being? Lord Mahavira has given two definitions
of religion in Acarangasutra. He says “Worthy people preach that
the religion is mental equanimity.”4 Equanimity is considered
as a core or essence of religion, because it is the real nature or essence
of all the living beings including human beings also. In a Jaina text
known as Bhagavati-sutra there is a conversation between Lord
Mahavira and Gautama.5 Gautama asked Mahavira “What is the
nature of soul?” and Mahavira answered “The nature of soul is equanimity.”
Gautama again asked “What is ultimate end of soul?” and Mahavira replied
“The ultimate end of soul is also equanimity.” Acarya Knndakunda also
equated the word ‘samaya’ or ‘samata’ with svabhava
or essential nature of soul, further he also explained “Sva-samaya
or sva-svabhava is the ultimate goal of our life.”
In Jainism, religion is nothing but a practice for the realization of our
own essential nature of sva-svabhava. This enjoying of one’s own
essential nature means to remain constant in sakibhava or
drastahava. It is the state of pure knowership or subjectivity. In
this state the consciousness is completely free from constant flickerings,
excitements and emotional disorders and mind becomes pacific. It is the
pre-condition for enjoying spiritual happiness and the way to get freedom
from mental tensions, which are the vibhavas or impure states of
mind. This is known in Jainism as samayika or practice for
equanimity of mind. Nobody wants to live in a state of mental tensions,
every one would like no tension but relaxation, not anxiety but
satisfaction. This shows that our real nature is working in us for a
mental peace or equanimity and religion is nothing but a way of achieving
this mental peace. According to Jainism the duty of a religious order is
to explain the means by which man can achieve the equanimity of mind or
mental peace. In Jainism this method of achieving mental peace and
equanimity is called samayika, which is the first and foremost duty
among six essential duties of the monks and the householders.
The three-fold path of right knowledge, right attitude and right conduct
is only an application of equanimity (samatva) in the three aspects
of our conscious life i.e. knowing, feeling and willing. Even mindedness,
broader and unbiased outlook and regard for others ideologies and thoughts
are regarded as equanimity of knowledge or right knowledge. Detachment
from the objects of worldly pleasures, balanced state of mind and the
feeling of equality are considered as equanimity of feeling i.e. right
attitude or samyak-darsana and control over one’s desires, regard
for other’s life and property, equal treatment in social life are known as
equanimity of willing or right conduct. Again, right conduct consists of
three organs i.e. mind, body and speech. According to Jaina thinkers
equanimity of mind, body and speech should be a directive principle of
religious life. The equanimity of mind is non-attachment (anasakti
or aparigraha), equanimity of body is non-violence (ahimsa)
and equanimity of speech is non-absolutism (anekanta or syadvada).
Non-attachment, non-violence and non-absolutism are the three pillars of
Jainism, and are fully competent to meet the needs of our age and to
establish peace and harmony in the world.
Non-attachment and Regard for Other’s
Necissities
As I have already mentioned that most burning problem of our age is the
problem of mental tensions. The nations, who claim more civilized and
economically more advance are much more in the grip of mental tensions.
The main objective of Jainism is to emancipate man form his sufferings and
mental tensions. First of all we must know that what is the cause of these
mental tensions. For, Jainism, the basic human sufferings are not
physical, but mental. These mental sufferings or tensions are due to our
attachment towards worldly objects. It is the attachment, which is fully
responsible for them. The famous Jaina text Uttaradhyayana-sutra
mentions “The root of all sufferings physical as well as mental of every
body including gods, is attachment towards the objects of worldly
enjoyment.”7 It is the attachment which is the root cause of
mental tensions. According to Lord Mahavira to remain attached to sensuous
objects is to remain in the whirl. He says “Misery is gone in the case of
a man who has no delusion, while delusion is gone in the case of a man who
has no desire, desire is gone in the case of a man who has no greed, while
greed is gone in the case of a man who has no attachment.”8 The
efforts made to satisfy the human desires through material objects can be
likened to the chopping off of the branches while watering the roots. Thus
we can conclude that the lust for and the attachment towards the objects
or worldly pleasure is the sole cause of human suffering.
If mankind is to be freed from mental tensions it is necessary to grow a
detached outlook in life. Jainism believes that the lesser will be the
attachment the greater will be the mental peace. It is only when
attachment is vanished, the human mind will be free from mental tensions
and emotional disorders. For this Jainism preaches the vow of complete
nonpossession for the ascetics and the vow to limit ones own possession
for the house holders, which are technically called as
aparigraha-mahavrata and parigraha-parimana-vrata respectively.
Non-Violence or Regard
for Life
Samata or equanimity is a personal or inner aspect of our religious
life, when it is applied in the social life or it is practiced outwardly,
it becomes non-violence. Thus non-violence is a social or outer aspect of
our religious life. In Acaranga Lord Mahavira give another
definition of religion. He remarks--
“The worthy men of the past, present and the future all say thus, speak
thus, declare thus, explain thus: all breathing, existing, living and
sentient creatures should not be slain, nor treated with violence, nor
abused, nor tormented. This is the pure, eternal and unchangeable law or
the tenet of religion.”9 In other words, non-violence is the
eternal and pure form of religion. In Jainsim non-violence is the pivot on
which its whole ethics revolves. For Jains violence represents all the
vices and non-violence represents all the virtues. Non-violence is not a
single virtue but it is a group of virtues. In Prasnavyakarana-sutra
the term non-violence is equated with sixty virtuous qualities, just as
peace, harmony, welfare, trust and fearlessness, etc.10 Thus
non-violence is a wider term, which comprehends all the good qualities and
virtues.
The concept of non-violence and the regard for life is accepted by almost
all the religions of the world. But none of the religions obsere it so
minutely as Jainism. Jainism prohibits not only killing of human beings
and animals but of the vegetable kingdom also. To hurt the plants is also
an act of violence or himsa. It’s basic principle is that the life,
in whatever form it may be, should be respected, we have no right to take
another’s life, because everyone wants to live as we do. The
Dasavaikalika mentions that everyone wants to live and not to die, for
this simple reason, Nigganthas prohibit violence.11 It
can be said that the Jaina concept of non-violence is extremist and not
practical, but we cannot challenge its relevance for human society. Though
Jainism sets its goal as the ideal of total non-violence, external as well
as internal, yet the realization of this ideal in the practical life is by
no means easy. Non-violence is a spiritual ideal, which is fully
realizable only in the spiritual plane. The real life of an individual is
a physio-spiritual complex; at this level complete non-violence is not
possible. According to Jaina thinkers the violence is of four kinds (i)Deliberate
or aggressive violence i.e. intentional killing. (ii) Protective violence
i.e. resorting to violence to save the life of one’s own or his fellow
being or to ensure peace and justice in the society, (iii) Occupational
violence i.e, the violence which one commits in his occupation such as
farming, tilling the soil or running factories and industries, (iv)
Violence, which is involved in performing the daily routine work of a
house-holder such as bathing, cooking, walking etc. A person can proceed
toward the fullness of non-violent life to the extent as he rises above
the physical level. The first form of violence, which is deliberate, is to
be shunned by all, because it relates to our mental proclivities. So far
as the thoughts are concerned, a man is his own master, so it is obligator
for all to be non-violent in this sphere. The other forms of violence i.e.
protective, occupational and violence involved in daily routine work are
inevitable so far as man is living on a physical level, but this does not
mean that the ideal of nonviolence is not practicable and so it is not
necessary for human race.
Philosophy
