Jain Darshan Me Atmatattva

Here's a comprehensive summary of the provided Jain text, "Jain Darshan me Atmatattva" by Bansidhar Pandit, focusing on the concept of the soul (Atmatattva):

Overview of Jain Philosophy:

The text begins by categorizing philosophies into physical and spiritual. Jain philosophy, however, encompasses both. Physical philosophy (also called Dravyanuyog) deals with the existence, nature, classifications, and transformations of all objects in the universe. Spiritual philosophy (also called Karananuyog) focuses on the rise and fall of the soul and their causes. Jainism integrates materialism, science, and Dravyanuyog under physical philosophy, while spiritualism and Karananuyog fall under spiritual philosophy.

Jain Cosmology: The Six Dravyas (Substances)

The Jain worldview recognizes the universe as a collection of all possible existing substances. These are classified into six fundamental categories called Dravyas:

1. Jiva (Soul): Infinite in number.
2. Pudgala (Matter): Infinite in number.
3. Dharma (Medium of Motion): One.
4. Adharma (Medium of Rest): One.
5. Akasha (Space): One (infinite in extent).
6. Kala (Time): Innumerable.

These Dravyas are further characterized by their number of pradeshas (spatial units). A pradesha is the smallest unit of space occupied by a substance. Substances can be ekapradeshi (occupying one pradesha) or bahupadeshi (occupying many pradeshas).

• Jiva, Dharma, and Adharma: Are considered bahupadeshi, possessing innumerable pradeshas.
• Pudgala: Can be ekapradeshi (singular atoms) or bahupadeshi (molecules, clusters, etc., with a countable, innumerable, or infinite number of pradeshas).
• Akasha: Is bahupadeshi, with infinite pradeshas.
• Kala: Is ekapradeshi (time atoms), but the total number of such temporal units within the universe is innumerable.

The Lokakasha and Alokakasha:

The universe is contained within Akasha (Space). The part of Akasha that contains all the other five Dravyas is called Lokakasha (Universe-space). The rest of Akasha, which is limitless and empty, is called Alokakasha (Non-universe-space). Dharma and Adharma Dravyas are described as having a specific human-like form within the Lokakasha.

Inert and Active Dravyas:

• Inert Dravyas: Akasha, Dharma, Adharma, and Kala are considered inert, meaning they do not undergo self-initiated movement or change.
• Active Dravyas: Jiva and Pudgala are active and capable of movement and change.

Nature of Dravyas:

• Akasha: Is all-pervading and immeasurable.
• Dharma and Adharma: Assist in motion and rest respectively, acting as underlying principles.
• Kala: Causes modification and change in substances, enabling concepts of past, present, and future.
• Pudgala: Is characterized by form, taste, smell, and touch. Even subtle forms of matter, imperceptible to external senses, are acknowledged (e.g., atomic bombs illustrating their power).
• Jiva: Is characterized by consciousness (chetana).

All Dravyas except Pudgala are considered formless (arupi). Pudgala is form-possessing (rupi) and perceived through external senses. Sound is also considered a quality of Pudgala.

The Soul (Atmatattva) from the Perspective of Dravyanuyog:

The Jiva Dravya is also known as the Atma (Soul). The Atma is beyond the perception of external senses (sight, taste, smell, hearing, touch). Despite this, the text asserts that the existence of the soul is self-evident.

• Self-Awareness: All sentient beings possess self-awareness, experiencing themselves as doers of actions. This innate experience points to the existence of the self, which is the soul.
• Distinction from the Body: The text addresses the argument that "I am in the body" doesn't necessarily mean "I am distinct from the body." It argues that sentient bodies possess three characteristics absent in lifeless objects:
  1. Knowledge of Other Objects: Sentient beings can know other things.
  2. Independent Effort/Action: Sentient beings can initiate actions.
  3. Self-Awareness of States: Sentient beings are aware of their happiness, sorrow, status, etc. These abilities are attributed to the presence of a distinct entity – the soul – within the body, which is absent in lifeless matter.
• Life-Force (Prana): These characteristics (knowledge, action, self-awareness) are referred to as prana. The soul is the substratum of prana.
• Rejection of Panchabhautik (Five-Element) Theory: The text refutes the idea that the body's properties (like the ability to perceive smell from earth, taste from water, etc.) are solely due to the combination of the five elements. It argues:
  • Modern science has debunked the notion that sound is exclusively an attribute of space.
  • Sound possesses a quality of resistance and impact, suggesting it's a substance itself (pudgala) rather than a mere quality.
  • The Jain perspective considers all four elements (earth, water, fire, air) as possessing all four qualities (form, taste, smell, touch), negating the need for specific element combinations for sensory perception.
  • Even if the body is a composite of elements, the life-force (chetana) cannot arise spontaneously from non-living elements.
  • The variation in sensory abilities across different life forms (e.g., absence of sight in some) makes the five-element theory insufficient to explain the presence of consciousness.
  • The unified nature of consciousness (e.g., receiving distinct sensory inputs simultaneously from different organs) points to a single locus of consciousness, the soul, rather than distributed consciousness in different body parts.
• Mental Faculties: The text distinguishes between the brain (responsible for memory, reasoning, inference) and the heart (responsible for emotions like anger, greed, etc.). Both are considered aspects of the soul's mental efforts (manoyoga).
• Types of Efforts (Yoga): Jainism categorizes efforts into three types:
  1. Manoyoga: Mental efforts (mediated by the mind).
  2. Vachanayoga: Vocal efforts (speaking).
  3. Kayayoga: Bodily efforts (actions). These efforts are attributed to the soul.
• Self-Awareness in Lower Life Forms: Even beings without minds (e.g., single-sensed beings) experience a form of self-awareness (e.g., feeling pleasure from sweet substances, pain from heat), indicating the soul's presence and experience of its karma-fruit (karmaphalachetana). Higher beings, with minds, have a more analytical self-awareness (karma-chetana and gyana-chetana).

From the Dravyanuyog perspective, the soul is considered to be inherently conscious, eternal, and unchanging in its fundamental nature.

The Soul (Atmatattva) from the Perspective of Karananuyog:

While Dravyanuyog establishes the soul's inherent nature, Karananuyog explains the soul's experiences of pleasure and pain, bondage, purity, and liberation.

• Attribution of Happiness and Suffering: Unlike Vedanta, which considers happiness and suffering as illusory (maya) and separate from the soul, Jainism views them as modifications of the soul's inherent bliss (ananda) quality.
• Cause of Modifications: These modifications (happiness and suffering) are attributed to the soul's eternal association with Pudgala (matter).
• Possibility of Liberation: Jainism asserts that this association with Pudgala can be severed, thereby eliminating these modifications and leading to liberation.
• The Soul's Journey: The soul is seen as:
  • Bonded (baddha) but capable of becoming free (mukta).
  • Impure but capable of becoming pure.
  • Affected by passions (anger, greed, delusion) but capable of overcoming them.
  • Transmigratory (moving through different life forms like animals, humans, celestial beings, hellish beings) but capable of attaining the state of a liberated soul (siddha).
  • Possessing limited knowledge but capable of omniscience.

The Interplay of Dravyanuyog and Karananuyog:

• Dravyanuyog's Role: Establishes the soul's innate, unchanging essence as consciousness. It doesn't directly explain states like bondage or purity.
• Karananuyog's Role: Explains the soul's various states of being, such as bondage, impurity, and liberation, which arise from its interaction with Pudgala. These are considered conditions or modifications, not the soul's inherent nature.
• Importance of Both: The text emphasizes that both perspectives are crucial. Without Karananuyog, the distinction between the embodied soul and the liberated soul, and the practical pursuit of liberation, would be meaningless. If Dravyanuyog were solely relied upon, the diversity of life forms and experiences would be negated.

The Path to Liberation (Charananuyog):

The pursuit of liberation, as outlined in Charananuyog (the ethical and practical aspect of Jainism), involves awakening the soul's self-reliance. This is achieved by adhering to the five vows (non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, celibacy, non-possession) and cultivating the ten virtues (forgiveness, humility, etc.).

Conclusion:

The essence of Jainism regarding the soul is that it is an independent, conscious entity with an eternal existence. While it undergoes various states of bondage and suffering due to its association with matter, it possesses the inherent potential to purify itself and attain liberation through conscious effort and adherence to ethical principles.