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JAINISM The destiny of man is framed by a rigid law, that of the evolution of the life-monad. Gosāla compares the long automatic ascent to the course of a ball of thread thrown through the air which runs out to its very last bit: the curve ends only when the thread is entirely unwound. No divine grace or human zeal can interrupt or interfere with this unalterable principle of bondage, evolution, and release. It is a law that knits all life, links apparently lifeless elemental matter to the kingdoms of the insects and of man, runs through all things, puts on and lays aside the whole wardrobe of the masks or garbs of incarnation, and will not be forced, hurried, cheated, or denied.
This is a vision of an all-embracing, gloomy grandeur, a cool scientific outlook on the universe and its creatures, impressive through its utter self-consistency. The melancholy of the realm of nature is tempered by no ray of redeeming light. On the contrary, this stupendous cosmic view depresses the spirit through the merciless coherence of its complete disregard for the hopes intrinsic to the human soul. Absolutely no concession is made to man's wishful thinking, absolutely no adjustment to our inborn awareness of a possible freedom.
Jainism and Buddhism, on the other hand, the successful contemporary rivals, agree in stressing the possibility of an accelerated release from the cycle as a consequence of effort. Both protest equally against the mechanistic inflexibility of Gosāla's law of evolution, in so far as it touches the sphere of human will. The Buddha, for example, is most emphatic. “There exists," says he, "a 'heroic effort' (viryam) in man; there exists the possibility of a 'successful exertion' (utsäha) aimed at the disengaging of man from the vortex of rebirths-provided he strives wholeheartedly for this end." 01 Gosāla's solemn scientific panorama, excluding as it does all freedom of the will, converts the
91 Editor's note: Many statements in praise of effort and exertion appear in the Buddhist scriptures. I have not located, however, the passage cited hcre by Dr. Zimmer.
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| SR No. | 007309 |
| Book Title | Philosophies of India |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Heinrich Zimmer, Joseph Campbell |
| Publisher | Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd |
| Publication Year | 1953 |
| Total Pages | 709 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 34 MB |