Jainism and Karnataka Culture

SR No.: 011062
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: S R Sharma
Publisher: Karnataka Historical Research Society Dharwar
Publication Year: 1940
Total Pages: 263
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 9 MB

Page 177

IDEALISM AND REALISM
133
believed in the doctrine of karma; but their interpretation of it rested more on the performance or non-performance of sacrifices and other details of Brāhmanical retualism than on ethical conduct. The Jainas, on the other hand, laid stress on the moral responsibility which was applicable, not merely to human beings but equally well to the animal and lower existences.20 Strange as this might sound to many ears, this theory was perfectly logical in the light of their definition of Jiva or Soul. Kundakunda states that " Jiva is conscious, formless, characterised by Upayôga, attached to Karma, the lord, the agent, the enjoyer (of the fruits of karma), the pervader of bodies (large or small); that which goes upward to the end of Lóka, being freed from the impurity of karma." 21 Life was universally the same and it was governed by the same immutable law of cause and effect. Not only was man endowed with Jiva but all creatures including plants, animals, birds, insects, and even atomic invisible beings had life. This hylozoitic theory, as Jacobi calls it, is an important characteristic of the Jainas, and "pervades their whole philosophic system and code of morals."22 It was quite different from the animistic belief in the existence of spirits in stones, trees, and running brooks. The latter had to be propitiated with bloody sacrifices destroying other forms of precious life. But, according to the Jainas, life in all its forms was sacred; and it moved upwards to the same goal, and was not to be disturbed or disintegrated by any kind of voilence. This was the rationale or psychology underlying perhaps by far the most dominating characteristic of Jainism viz. the principles of Ahimsa.23
Tie implications of this doctrine are perhaps nowhere better illustrated than in a story contained in the Yeśastilaka-Camp!! 20 'zara Petanice a yale #talent art, ibid., 123 ; cf. Dravyasangraha,
ibid. I, pp. 36-39. 11 Paricdelikāya-udra, S. B. J. II, 27? cf. Dravyasangraha, ibid
I, pp. 6-7. 33 Jacobi, op. cit., p. xxxiii. 23 Smith, op. cit., p. 53.