After Gosala�s withdrawal, Mahavira continued his wanderings and practice
of asceticism alone. Gosala proclaimed himself a Jina and started
collecting followers after acquiring supernormal powers, but Mahavira
persisted in his search. From Siddharthagrama he went to Vaisali and
thence to Vanijyagrama, where he was visited by Ananda, a wealthy merchant
of the place and then traveled to Sravasti (which has been identified with
Sahet-Mahet on the south bank of the river Tapti) for his tenth
chaturmas.
On the expiry of the tenth chaturmas began the sad episode of
Sangamaka, the tempter-god, who made his appearance and began his
attack, which in its various forms lasted for about six months. The
eleventh chaturmas was spent at Vaisali and the twelfth at Campa.
The interval between the eleventh and twelfth was marked by the famous
abhigrah at Kausambi, which took five months and twenty-five days to
be fulfilled and meant a forced fast for Mahavira of this duration. During
the thirteenth year, in the second month of summer, in the fourth
fortnight, the light (fortnight) of Vaiskha, on its tenth day,
called Suvrata, in the Muhurta called Vijaya, while
the moon was in conjunction with the asterism Uttarapalguni, when
the shadow had turned towards the east and the first wake was over,
outside the town Jrmbhikagrama, on the northern bank of the river
Rjupalika, in the field of the householder Samaga, under a Sala
tree, in a squatting position with joint heels exposing himself to the
heat of the Sun, with the knees high and the head low, in deep meditation,
in the midst of abstract meditation, he reached the complete and full, the
unobstructed, unimpeded, infinite and supreme, best knowledge and
intuition, called Kevala.�
Kevalin:
On the attainment of Kevala jnana, says the Kalpautra,
the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira became omniscient. �He knew and saw all
conditions of the worlds, of gods, men and demons; whence they came,
whither they are born as men or animals or became gods or hellish, beings,
the ideas, the thoughts of their mind, the food, doings, desires, the open
and secret deeds of all the livings in the whole world; the Arhat, for
whom there is no secret, knew and saw all conditions of all living beings
in the world, what they thought, spoke, or did at any time.� It is notable
that frequently in the course of audience and in his preaching after this
great event he would refer to the earlier existence of a person or what
one was going to be in the next birth; this extended vision of the past,
resent and future became obviously an essential attribute of Mahavira�s
personality. Even the Buddhist texts always refer to him as possessing
such vision.
It would be helpful in this connection to understand the Jaina theory of
knowledge. According to Jainism, consciousness is the very essence of the
soul, not a mere characteristic of it. The soul (jeev) can know
unaided everything direct and exactly as it is. Of consciousness, there
are two manifestations, perception (darshan) and knowledge (gyan).
The former is simple apprehension, the latter conceptual knowledge. In the
former details are not perceived, in the latter they are; darshan
is a perception of generalities (samanya) of things without
particularities (vishaish). There can be no jeeva without
consciousness or cognition, as there can be no consciousness without a
jeeva. Incidentally, this is a point which illustrates the distinction
of Jainism from Buddhism, where not the mind but only states of
consciousness are admitted as real. The fact that the knowledge which a
jeeva actually has is fragmentary in its character is due to the
obstruction caused by Karma, which interferes with its power of
cognition. The Karmas which obscure the different kind of jnana
are called the knowledge- obscuring (jnanavaranr) those which
obscure the different varieties of darsan are called the
perception-obscuring (darshanavaranr) karmas. The different kinds
of jnana recognized by Jainism are: (1) matigyan which is
ordinary cognition obtained by normal means of sense perception. It
includes remembrance (smriti), recognition (Prtyabhigya),
induction based upon observation (tark), and deductive reasoning (anuman)
and it is acquired by means of the senses and mind; (2) shrut or
testimony, i.e., knowledge derived though signs, symbols, or word; (3)
Avadhi which is direct knowledge of things even at a distance of time
and space. It is knowledge by clairvoyance, limited by and coextensive
with the material object of the knowledge; (4)Manprya direct
knowledge of the thoughts of others, a telepathic knowledge of others�
minds; and (5) Kaival perfect knowledge comprehending all
substances and their modifications. The last three categories of knowledge
are direct in the sense that they are derived without the medium of senses
and mind.
Darshan or Perception is of four kinds; perception through visual
sensations (chakshudarshan), perception through non-visual
sensations, perception through the faculty of Avadhi or clairvoyance (Avadhidarshan),
and lastly Kevaldarshan perception through Kevala or infinite
perception, which is unlimited and apprehends all general reality.
All accounts of Mahavira�s life are
agreed that he possessed a highly active and clever mind from the very
beginning. He is mentioned to have possessed from his very childhood the
Mati, Sruta and Avadhhi jnana; the Svetambara books say that
he was in possession of Abhogika-Jnana, which is inferior to
the Avadhi knowledge but is essentially of the same class. Direct
knowledge of the thoughts, he obtained while renouncing the world and
adopting the career of an ascetic. The Kalpasutra refers to his
having perceived with �his supreme unlimited knowledge and intuition� that
the time of his renunciation had come. Now he came to acquire
Kevala-jnana, Kevala-darsana, and approximation to the perfect
condition of the soul. Perfect knowledge is completely free from doubt
(sanshey),
perversity (viprya), and indefiniteness (andhyavaseya).
It is absolute apprehension without media, �soul-knowledge,� knowledge par
excellence which is higher than all the other varieties of normal and
supernormal knowledge. Such knowledge, of course, comprehends knowledge of
the soul itself, for contrary to the Nyaya-Vaisesika theory
which believes that knowledge reveals only external relations but not
itself, the Jaina Siddhanta asserts that in knowing any object the
soul knows itself simultaneously. After the attainment of Kevala-jnana
a jeeva may lead an active life, but the activity would not taint
him, would exert no fresh Karmic influence of the obstructive type
upon the soul. During the period between Enlightenment and actual death
the person is termed as �Arhat�; at actual liberation he becomes a
�Siddha�. The Stage of Arhat-ship corresponds roughly to the Hindu
ideal of jivan-mukti.
The concept of such absolute and perfect knowledge may not be unique to
the Jainas but their ways of attainment of knowledge are certainly unique.
The Upanisadic seers drew a distinction between lower knowledge and
higher knowledge, the higher knowledge being conceived as the knowledge by
which alone the imperishable being is reached. The Greek philosophers also
drew a similar distinction between Doxa and Episteme, between opinion and
truth (or knowledge). Plato, in his Republic, brought out the distinction
by means of a parable. �Imagine human beings living in a sort of
underground den, which has a mouth wide open towards the hight, and behind
them a breastwork such as marionette players might use for a screen; and
there is a way beyond the breastwork along which passengers are moving,
holding in their hands various works of art, and among them images of men
and animals, wood and stone, and some of the passers of talking and others
silent. They see nothing but the shadows which the fire throws on the wall
of the caves, to these they give names; and if we add an echo which
returns from the wall, the voices of passengers will seem to proceed from
the shadows. They are ourselves, and to us, brought up in the
limited-atmosphere of such a den from our childhood, �truth is just
nothing but the shadows of the images.� But the released from the prison
of the den and compelled suddenly to go up, we can gradually have a clear
view of the Truth, perceiving at first only shadows and reflections in the
water, then recognizing the moon and the stars, and beholding finally the
sun �in his own proper place.� Thus, their knowledge will come to have
clearness of certainty and rescue itself from the cloudiness of opinion.�
Incidentally, this parable of Plato also presents a theory of knowledge,
which is wholly akin to the Jain theory. Knowledge is not something which
has to be put into the soul and which was not there before. �The power is
already in the soul; and as the eye cannot turn from darkness to light
without the whole body, so too when the eye of the soul is turned round,
the whole soul must be turned from the world of generation into that of
being.�
Jina:
The attainment of Kevala-Jnana was achieved by Mahavira
after a prolonged practice of profound meditations and austerities for
over twelve years, and this entitled him to be called the Jina
(conqueror). It may be mentioned that Buddha also led a life of
austerities of six years, but that he thought these years wasted and his
penance�s useless for attaining his end; while Mahavira was not only
convinced of the necessity of his penance�s and thought them essential for
obtaining perfection, but persevered in some of them even after becoming a
Tirthankara. In Mahavira�s view, �the full blaze of omniscience� in the
jiva is impossible of accomplishment without the practice of a
regulated course of self-discipline and the conquest of karmas. The
Karma in Jaina Siddhanta is recognized as a substantive
force, matter in a subtle form, which builds up a special body, called
Karmana-sarira and which retards the inherent radiance of the
soul. �As heat can unite with iron and water with milk, so karma
unites with the soul�. The kind of matter fit to manifest karma
fills all cosmic space, and it has the peculiar property of developing the
effects of merit and demerit. Except in final release the soul is always
in connection with matter, and the Karma forms the link between the two.
The Jaina Siddhanta recognizes eight kinds of karma.
(1) Gyanavaranr which obscures right knowledge of detail and
prevents our receiving mental illumination. It may not only impede us in
gaining true knowledge, but may actually give rise to false and hurtful
knowledge and misuse of intellectual powers. (2) Darshanavaranr
which obscures right perception and prevents our having general
comprehension of things. (3) vaidniye which obscures the
bliss-nature of the soul and causes us to experience either the sweetness
of worldly pleasures sukhvaidniye or the bitterness of misery (Dukhvaidniye).
In the Jaina view, it is not only evil action but also good action that
has to be worked off before one can obtain liberation. (4) mohneeya
which obscures the right attitude of the soul towards faith and right
conduct and prevents us from speaking and thinking clearly, which in short
�bemuses all our faculties.� (5) Ayoo which determines the length
of time a jiva must spend in the form with which is Karma
has endowed him. (6) nam which determines the peculiar body of the
soul with its general and special qualities and faculties. (7) Gotra
which determines the nationality, caste, family, social standing etc., (8)
antray which causes such energy in the soul as obstructs the
performance of good action when there is a desire to do so. It causes
hindrances in life and has the effect of �muddling away every opportunity
that life offers.� These Karmas are classified into the Ghatii,
which are particularly obstructive to the accomplishment of the natural
perfections of the pure soul and which can only be destroyed by great
labor and effort, and the Aghati, which are not very injurious and
can be more easily destroyed. The Ghati-karmas are
gyanvaran, darshanavaranr, mohniye and antrayeand
once they are burnt up in the burning glow of austerities, the Aghati
can be snapped as easily as a piece of burnt string.
This is clearly admitted in the analysis of the fourteen steps (ghunrsthan)
by which a jiva is supposed to ascend to the state of liberation.
The analysis of these stages through a developing soul passes is but one
instance of �the amazing knowledge of human nature which Jaina
ethics display.� Deliverance is impossible so long as the soul is bound by
and does not fully annihilate the Ghati-karma, but once
freed from the Ghati-karma the soul may retain its
connection for sometime with the Aghati-kamras without being
effectively bound by them. In the ladder of the fourteen steps, the first
step (miyhyatv) is when the soul is completely under the influence
of Karma and does not know its true good at all. From the first
step, either through the influence of the past good karma or in
response to some external stimulus, the soul obtains a glimpse of the true
faith and thus immediately rises to the fourth stage (avirat) when
although unable to take those vows which help in the fight against
Karma, it can, if it likes, control the grossest form of anger,
conceit, intrigue and greed, the four anantanubandhee kasayas.
In the absence of active effort to control these passions, there may be a
falling back of the soul to the second stage (sasvdan) which is
characterized by a very faint sense of discrimination between what is
false and what is true, and from here to either further descent to the
first stage or gradual ascent to the third mishr which typifies a
state of uncertainty, one moment knowing the truth and the next doubting
it. The second and the third steps are thus merely transitional and
transitory; it is the fourth step, which is really stable after the first
stage.
