A History of Indian Philosophy, Vol. 1 by Surendranath Dasgupta (best e reader for manga .TXT) đź“–
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Dharmmakîrtti (writer of Nyâyabindu 635 A.D.), Vinîtadeva and S'ântabhadra (commentators of Nyâyabindu), Dharmmottara (commentator of Nyâyabindu 847 A.D.), Ratnakîrtti (950 A.D.), Pa@n@dita As'oka, and Ratnâkara S'ânti, some of whose contributions have been published in the Six Buddhist Nyâya Tracts, published in Calcutta in the Bibliotheca Indica series. These Buddhist writers were mainly interested in discussions regarding the nature of perception, inference, the doctrine of momentariness, and the doctrine of causal efficiency (arthakriyâkâritva) as demonstrating the nature of existence. On the negative side they were interested in denying the ontological theories of Nyâya and Sâ@mkhya with regard to the nature of class-concepts, negation, relation of whole and part, connotation of terms, etc. These problems hardly attracted any notice in the non-Sautrântika and non-Vaibhâ@sika schools of Buddhism of earlier times. They of course agreed with the earlier Buddhists in denying the existence of a permanent soul, but this they did with the help of their doctrine of causal efficiency. The points of disagreement between Hindu thought up to S'a@nkara (800 A.D.) and Buddhist thought till the time of S'a@nkara consisted mainly in the denial by the Buddhists of a permanent soul and the permanent external world. For Hindu thought was more or less realistic, and even the Vedânta of S'a@nkara admitted the existence of the permanent external world in some sense. With S'a@nkara the forms of the external world were no doubt illusory, but they all had a permanent background in the Brahman, which was the only reality behind all mental and the physical phenomena. The Sautrântikas admitted the existence of the external world and so their quarrel with Nyâya and Sâ@mkhya was with regard to their doctrine of momentariness; their denial of soul and their views on the different ontological problems were in accordance with their doctrine of momentariness. After the twelfth century we do not hear much of any new disputes with the Buddhists. From this time the disputes were mainly between the different systems of Hindu philosophers, viz. Nyâya, the Vedânta of the school of S'a@nkara and the Theistic Vedânta of Râmânuja, Madhva, etc.
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CHAPTER VI THE JAINA PHILOSOPHYThe Origin of Jainism.
Notwithstanding the radical differences in their philosophical notions Jainism and Buddhism, which were originally both orders of monks outside the pale of Brahmanism, present some resemblance in outward appearance, and some European scholars who became acquainted with Jainism through inadequate samples of Jaina literature easily persuaded themselves that it was an offshoot of Buddhism, and even Indians unacquainted with Jaina literature are often found to commit the same mistake. But it has now been proved beyond doubt that this idea is wrong and Jainism is at least as old as Buddhism. The oldest Buddhist works frequently mention the Jains as a rival sect, under their old name Nigantha and their leader Nâtaputta Varddhamâna Mahâvîra, the last prophet of the Jains. The canonical books of the Jains mention as contemporaries of Mahâvîra the same kings as reigned during Buddha's career.
Thus Mahâvîra was a contemporary of Buddha, but unlike Buddha he was neither the author of the religion nor the founder of the sect, but a monk who having espoused the Jaina creed afterwards became the seer and the last prophet (Tïrtha@nkara) of Jainism[Footnote ref 1]. His predecessor Pârs'va, the last Tîrtha@nkara but one, is said to have died 250 years before Mahâvîra, while Pârs'va's predecessor Ari@s@tanemi is said to have died 84,000 years before Mahâvîra's Nirvâ@na. The story in Uttarâdhyayanasûtra that a disciple of Pârs'va met a disciple of Mahâvîra and brought about the union of the old Jainism and that propounded by Mahâvîra seems to suggest that this Pârs'va was probably a historical person.
According to the belief of the orthodox Jains, the Jaina religion is eternal, and it has been revealed again and again in every one of the endless succeeding periods of the world by innumerable Tirthankaras. In the present period the first Tîrtha@nkara was @R@sabha and the last, the 24th, was Vardhamâna Mahâvîra. All
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[Footnote 1: See Jacobi's article on Jainism, E. R.E.]
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Tîrtha@nkaras have reached mok@sa at their death, and they neither care for nor have any influence on worldly affairs, but yet they are regarded as "Gods" by the Jains and are worshipped [Footnote ref 1].
Two Sects of Jainism [Footnote ref 2].
There are two main sects of Jains, S'vetâmbaras (wearers of white cloths) and Digambaras (the naked). They are generally agreed on all the fundamental principles of Jainism. The tenets peculiar to the Digambaras are firstly that perfect saints such as the Tîrtha@nkaras live without food, secondly that the embryo of Mahâvîra was not removed from the womb of Devanandâ to that of Tris'alâ as the S'vetâmbaras contend, thirdly that a monk who owns any property and wears clothes cannot reach Mok@sa, fourthly that no woman can reach Mok@sa [Footnote ref 3]. The Digambaras deny the canonical works of the S'vetâmbaras and assert that these had been lost immediately after Mahâvîra. The origin of the Digambaras is attributed to S'ivabhûti (A.D. 83) by the S'vetâmbaras as due to a schism in the old S'vetâmbara church, of which there had already been previous to that seven other schisms. The Digambaras in their turn deny this, and say that they themselves alone have preserved the original practices, and that under Bhadrabâhu, the eighth sage after Mahâvîra, the last Tîrtha@nkara, there rose the sect of Ardhaphâlakas with laxer principles, from which developed the present sect of S'vetâmbaras (A.D. 80). The Digambaras having separated in early times from the S'vetâmbaras developed peculiar religious ceremonies of their own, and have a different ecclesiastical and literary history, though there is practically no difference about the main creed. It may not be out of place here to mention that the Sanskrit works of the Digambaras go back to a greater antiquity than those of the S'vetâmbaras, if we except the canonical books of the latter. It may be noted in this connection that there developed in later times about 84 different schools of Jainism differing from one another only in minute details of conduct. These were called gacchas, and the most important of these is the Kharatara Gaccha, which had split into many minor gacchas. Both sects of Jains have
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[Footnote 1: See "_Digumbara Jain Iconography (1. A, xxxii [1903] p. 459" of J. Burgess, and Bûhler's "Specimens of Jina sculptures from Mathurâ," in Epigraphica Indica, II. pp. 311 etc. See also Jacobi's article on Jainism, E.R.E.]
[Footnote 2: See Jacobi's article on Jainism, E.R.E.]
[Footnote 3: See Gu@naratna's commentary on Jainism in @Sa@ddars'anasamuccaya.]
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preserved a list of the succession of their teachers from Mahâvîra (sthavirâvali, pa@t@tâvali, gurvâvali) and also many legends about them such as those in the Kalpasûtra, the Paris'i@s@ta-parvan of Hemacandra, etc.
The Canonical and other Literature of the Jains.
According to the Jains there were originally two kinds of sacred books, the fourteen Pûrvas and the eleven A@ngas. The Pûrvas continued to be transmitted for some time but were gradually lost. The works known as the eleven A@ngas are now the oldest parts of the existing Jain canon. The names of these are Âcâra, Sûtrak@rta, Sthâna, Samavâya Bhagavatî, Jñâtadharmakathâs, Upâsakadas'âs, Antak@rtadas'âs Anuttaraupapâtikadas'âs, Pras'navyâkara@na, Vipâka. In addition to these there are the twelve Upâ@ngas [Footnote ref 1], the ten Prakîr@nas [Footnote ref 2], six Chedasûtras [Footnote ref 3], Nândî and Anuyogadvâra and four Mûlasûtras (Uttarâdhyayana, Âvas'yaka, Das'avaikâlika, and Pi@n@daniryukti). The Digambaras however assert that these original works have all been lost, and that the present works which pass by the old names are spurious. The original language of these according to the Jains was Ardhamâgadhî, but these suffered attempts at modernization and it is best to call the language of the sacred texts Jaina Prâkrit and that of the later works Jaina Mahârâ@s@trî. A large literature of glosses and commentaries has grown up round the sacred texts. And besides these, the Jains possess separate works, which contain systematic expositions of their faith in Prâkrit and Sanskrit. Many commentaries have also been written upon these independent treatises. One of the oldest of these treatises is Umâsvâti's Tattvârthâdhigamasûtra(1-85 A.D.). Some of the most important later Jaina works on which this chapter is based are Vis'e@sâvas'yakabhâ@sya, Jaina Tarkavârttika, with the commentary of S'ântyâcâryya, Dravyasa@mgraha of Nemicandra (1150 A.D.), Syâdvâdamañjarî of Malli@sena (1292 A.D.), Nyâyâvatâra of Siddhasena Divâkara (533 A.D.), Parîk@sâmukhasûtralaghuv@rtti of Anantavîryya (1039 A.D.), Prameyakamalamârta@n@da of Prabhâcandra
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[Footnote 1: Aupapâtika, Râjapras'nîya, Jîvâbhigama, Prajñâpanâ,
Jambudvîpaprajñapti, Candraprajñapti, Sûryaprajñapti, Nirayâvali,
Kalpâvata@msikâ, Pu@spikâ, Pu@spacûlikâ, V@r@s@nida@sâs.]
[Footnote 2: Catu@hs'ara@na, Sa@mstâra, Âturapratyâkhyâna, Bhaktâparijñâ,
Ta@ndulavaiyâlî, Ca@n@dâvîja, Devendrastava, Ga@nivîja, Mahâpratyâkhyâna,
Vîrastava.]
[Footnote 3: Nis'îtha, Mahânis'îtha, Vyavahâra, Das'as'rutaskandha,
B@rhatkalpa, Pañcakalpa.]
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(825 A.D.), Yogas'âstra of Hemacandra (1088-1172 A.D.), and Pramâ@nanayatattvâlokâla@mkâra of Deva Sûri (1086-1169 A.D.). I am indebted for these dates to Vidyâbhû@sa@na's Indian Logic.
It may here be mentioned that the Jains also possess a secular literature of their own in poetry and prose, both Sanskrit and Prâkrit. There are also many moral tales (e.g. Samarâicca-kahâ, Upamitabhavaprapañca-kathâ in Prâkrit, and the Yas'astilaka of Somadeva and Dhanapâla's Tilakamañjarî); Jaina Sanskrit poems both in the Purâ@na and Kâvya style and hymns in Prâkrit and Sanskrit are also very numerous. There are also many Jaina dramas. The Jaina authors have also contributed many works, original treatises as well as commentaries, to the scientific literature of India in its various branches: grammar, biography, metrics, poetics, philosophy, etc. The contributions of the Jains to logic deserve special notice [Footnote ref 1].
Some General Characteristics of the Jains.
The Jains exist only in India and their number is a little less than a million and a half. The Digambaras are found chiefly in Southern India but also in the North, in the North-western provinces, Eastern Râjputâna and the Punjab. The head-quarters of the S'vetâmbaras are in Gujarat and Western Râjputâna, but they are to be found also all over Northern and Central India.
The outfit of a monk, as Jacobi describes it, is restricted to bare necessaries, and these he must beg—clothes, a blanket, an alms-bowl, a stick, a broom to sweep the ground, a piece of cloth to cover his mouth when speaking lest insects should enter it [Footnote ref 2]. The outfit of nuns is the same except that they have additional clothes. The Digambaras have a similar outfit, but keep no clothes, use brooms of peacock's feathers or hairs of the tail of a cow (câmara) [Footnote ref 3]. The monks shave the head or remove the hair by plucking it out. The latter method of getting rid of the hair is to be preferred, and is regarded sometimes as an essential rite. The duties of monks are very hard. They should sleep only three hours and spend the rest of the time in repenting of and expiating sins, meditating, studying, begging alms (in the afternoon), and careful inspection of their clothes and other things for the removal of insects. The laymen should try to approach the ideal of conduct of the monks
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[Footnote 1: See Jacobi's article on Jainism. E.R.E.]
[Footnote 2: See Jacobi, loc. cat.]
[Footnote 3: See @Sa@ddars'anasamuccaya, chapter IV.]
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by taking upon themselves particular vows, and the monks are required to deliver sermons and explain the sacred texts in the upâs'rayas (separate buildings for monks like the Buddhist vihâras). The principle of extreme carefulness not to destroy any living being has been in monastic life carried out to its very last consequences, and has shaped the conduct of the laity in a great measure. No layman will intentionally kill any living being, not even an insect, however troublesome. He will remove it carefully without hurting it. The principle of not hurting any living being thus bars them from many professions such as agriculture, etc., and has thrust them into commerce [Footnote ref 1].
Life of Mahâvîra.
Mahâvîra, the last prophet of the Jains, was a K@sattriya of the Jñâta clan and a native of Vais'âli (modern Besarh, 27 miles north of Patna). He was the second son of Siddhârtha and Trîs'alâ. The S'vetâmbaras maintain that the embryo of
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