Jaina Philosophy

This document is a comprehensive summary and analysis of "Jaina Philosophy: An Introduction" by Mohan Lal Mehta, published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in 1998. The book serves as a detailed exploration of the core tenets of Jainism, presented in a structured and accessible manner.

Here's a breakdown of the key aspects covered in the book, based on the provided pages:

1. Overview and Context:

• Author: Prof. Dr. Mohan Lal Mehta is an internationally recognized scholar of Jainism, with extensive experience in academia, including professorships at the University of Poona and leadership at the P. V. Research Institute in Varanasi.
• Purpose: The book aims to provide an "humble and honest contribution" to understanding Jainism, focusing on its "broad features" and presenting them in an "interesting, intelligible and easy" way, based on original Prakrit and Sanskrit texts.
• Structure: The treatise is divided into eight chapters, covering a wide range of topics from the history of Jainism to its philosophical and ethical doctrines.
• Third Edition: This is a revised and enlarged edition, indicating the book's enduring relevance and demand.

2. Key Chapters and Content:

• Chapter I: History of Jainism:

  • Jainism is presented as an independent and ancient religion of India, originating from the Śramaņic tradition, distinct from the Brāhmaṇic (Vedic) trend.
  • It clarifies that Lord Mahāvīra and even Lord Pārśva were not founders but reformers and key figures in a long-standing tradition.
  • Discusses the relationship between Jainism and Buddhism, highlighting Jainism's antiquity.
  • Details the lives and teachings of key figures like Pārśva, Mahāvīra, Sudharman, Jambu, Bhadrabāhu, Sthūlabhadra, Samprati, and Khāravela.
  • Explains the origin and historical context of the Digambara and Śvetāmbara schisms, including their main differences in practices and beliefs regarding canonical texts, the nature of omniscients, salvation for women, Mahāvīra's marital status, and image decoration.
  • Mentions the propagation of Jainism through various historical periods and regions, including its presence in South India and its influence on rulers like Kumārapāla.

• Chapter II: Religious and Philosophical Literature:

  • Focuses on the Jaina canonical texts, categorizing them into Angas (12) and Anga-bāhya (further subdivided into Upangas, Mūlasūtras, Chedasūtras, Cūlikāsūtras, and Prakīrņakas).
  • Explains the significance of the Dṛṣṭivāda, the lost twelfth Anga, and its influence on subsequent literature.
  • Describes the content and divisions of the major Angas (e.g., Acārānga, Sūtrakṛtānga, Bhagavatī) and Upangas.
  • Highlights significant non-canonical works and their authors, including those from the Digambara tradition like KundaKunda (Pravacanasāra, Samayasāra) and works on karma like Karmaprābhṛta.
  • Discusses the contributions of prominent philosophers and commentators such as Umāsvāti (Tattvārthādhigama Sūtra), Siddhasena Divākara, Samantabhadra, Akalanka, Haribhadra, and Yaśovijaya.
  • Explains the role of Niryuktis, Bhāṣyas, Cūrņis, and Vṛttis as commentaries on canonical texts.

• Chapter III: Reality:

  • Introduces the fundamental philosophical dichotomy of Idealism and Realism, emphasizing their importance for understanding philosophy.
  • Discusses Idealism in Western philosophy (Platonic, Berkeleyan, Kantian, Hegelian, Bradleyan, Bosanquet's) and Indian philosophy (Mādhyamika and Yogācāra Buddhism, Śankara's Advaita Vedānta). It clarifies misconceptions about Idealism, emphasizing that it doesn't negate reality but rather reinterprets it.
  • Explores Realism, defining it as the belief in the independent existence of reality, and discusses arguments for physical existence (inference from sense-data, simplicity, propensity to believe).
  • Details various trends of Realism: Monistic, Dualistic, Pluralistic, Pragmatic, Neo-Realism, and Critical Realism.
  • Analyzes Realistic currents in Indian Thought, including Pūrva-Mīmāṁsā, Sānkhya, Rāmānuja's position, Nyāya-Vaiseṣika, Vaibhāṣika and Sautrāntika schools of Buddhism, and the Cārvāka school.
  • Presents Jainism's conception of Reality, which is inclusive and avoids extremes of idealism and materialism.
  • Explains the Jaina classification of six substances (dravyas): Jīvāstikāya (soul), Pudgalāstikāya (matter), Dharmāstikāya (medium of motion), Adharmāstikāya (medium of rest), Ākāśāstikāya (space), and Addhāsamaya/Kāla (time). It clarifies the distinction between astikāyas (extensive substances) and anastikāyas.
  • Discusses the ethical classification of Tattvas (nine categories: soul, non-soul, punya, papa, āsrava, bandha, samvara, nirjarā, mokşa), explaining their significance in the path to liberation.
  • Defines 'Sat' (existence) as characterized by origination, decay, and permanence, and clarifies the Jaina understanding of permanence as not leaving the essential nature.
  • Explains the Jaina concept of identity and difference, emphasizing that reality is a synthesis of opposites and that substances are characterized by both permanence and change.
  • Details the classifications of Jaina substances from monistic and dualistic viewpoints, highlighting the unique inclusion of non-material, non-conscious substances (dharma, adharma, ākāśa, kāla) in the ajīva category.

• Chapter IV: Soul (Jīva):

  • Presents arguments for the existence of the soul, refuting arguments based on sensory imperceptibility. It highlights the "I-ness" (ahampratyaya) and the nature of doubt as proof of the soul.
  • Defines the soul's essence as consciousness (cetanā), distinguishing it from accidental qualities as proposed by other schools. It refutes the idea that consciousness is merely a byproduct of material elements.
  • Explains the Jaina concept of the soul as a changing entity, contrary to the Sānkhya view of an unchanging Purușa.
  • Argues for the soul as an agent and enjoyer, directly and not indirectly.
  • Discusses the unique Jaina doctrine of the soul being equal in extent to its body, contrasting it with the omnipresence view of other schools.
  • Explains that souls are infinite in number and distinct, refuting the Advaita Vedānta's monistic view of the soul.
  • Details the soul's characteristic of being a possessor of material karma, refuting materialistic and other idealist views.
  • Explains the processes of bondage (bandha) and liberation (mokşa), and the role of karma in these processes.
  • Differentiates between Darśana (intuition) and Jñāna (knowledge), explaining their temporal relationship and the Jaina classification of knowledge (Mati, Śruta, Avadhi, Manahparyāya, Kevala).

• Chapter V: Matter (Pudgala):

  • Establishes the Jaina belief in the independent existence of matter as a realist school.
  • Explains the term 'Pudgala' etymologically as that which combines and dissociates, highlighting its unique meaning in Jainism.
  • Defines matter by its four characteristics: touch, taste, smell, and color, and their respective categories.
  • Discusses the division of matter into atoms (aņu) and molecules (skandha), their perceptibility, and the process of union.
  • Compares the Jaina conception of matter with that of the Vaiseṣikas, particularly regarding the elemental substances (earth, water, fire, air) and their qualities.
  • Elaborates on the five kinds of bodies (audārika, vaikriya, āhāraka, taijasa, kārmaņa) and their formation from matter.
  • Explains various manifestations of matter such as sound, union, fineness, grossness, figure, divisibility, darkness, shade, heat, and light.

• Chapter VI: Knowledge (Jñāna):

  • Emphasizes the central role of knowledge in Jainism, linking it intrinsically to the soul.
  • Outlines the five categories of knowledge in the Jaina canons (Ābhini-bodhika, Śruta, Avadhi, Manaḥparyāya, Kevala), tracing their development through different stages.
  • Discusses the means of valid knowledge (pramāņa), including perception (pratyakşa) and inference (anumāna), and the Jaina classification of direct and indirect knowledge.
  • Explains the concept of validity of knowledge (intrinsic and extrinsic).
  • Categorizes perception into direct (Pāramārthika pratyakşa or omniscience) and empirical (Sāmvyavārika pratyakşa).
  • Details direct perception including clairvoyance (Avadhi-jñāna) and telepathy (Manaḥparyāya-jñāna), their types, and the arguments for omniscience (Kevala-jñāna).
  • Covers empirical perception and its components: senses, mind, sensation (avagraha), speculation (īhā), determinate perception (avāya), and retention (dhāraņā).
  • Explains non-perceptual cognition, including recollection, recognition, inductive reasoning, inference (subjective and syllogistic), and authority (verbal testimony).
  • Presents the Jaina syllogism and its parts.

• Chapter VII: Judgment:

  • Focuses on the Jaina theory of non-absolutism (Anekānta) and its expression through Syādvāda (theory of relativity of judgment).
  • Explains that reality possesses infinite attributes, and judgments about it are always partial, hence the need for the qualifier 'syāt' (from a particular viewpoint).
  • Details the seven-fold judgment (Saptabhangi), illustrating it with the example of a pot, and how each proposition represents a particular perspective.
  • Distinguishes between complete judgment (sakalādeśa) and incomplete judgment (vikalādeśa), and explains the role of Naya (viewpoints) in shaping judgments.
  • Outlines the major Nayas: Dravyāstika (general) and Paryāyāstika (particular), and their sub-categories (Naigama, Sangraha, Vyavahāra, Ṛjusūtra, Śabda, Samabhirūḍha, Evambhūta).
  • Discusses the province of Naya and how they interrelate, as well as the fallacy of Naya when taken in an absolute sense.
  • Addresses and refutes objections raised against the doctrine of non-absolutism, particularly regarding contradiction.

• Chapter VIII: Karma:

  • Explains the fundamental Jaina principle of cause and effect governing all phenomena, including the concept of karma.
  • Defines Karma not as action, but as subtle material particles that adhere to the soul, obscuring its innate qualities and leading to the cycle of birth and death.
  • Details the four kinds of bondage based on nature (prakṛti), duration (sthiti), intensity (anubhāga), and quantity (pradeśas).
  • Elaborates on the eight fundamental species of karma (knowledge-obscuring, intuition-obscuring, feeling-producing, deluding, age-determining, physique-making, heredity-determining, power-hindering) and their sub-species.
  • Discusses the causes of bondage for each karma species, which often relate to passions (kaşāyas) and specific attitudes or actions.
  • Explains the prevention and destruction of karma through self-control (gupti), carefulness (samiti), virtues (dharma), meditation (anuprekṣā), endurance of troubles (parīşahajaya), and right conduct (cāritra).
  • Details the fourteen stages of spiritual development (Guṇasthānas), illustrating the progressive purification of the soul and its gradual shedding of karmic bondage.
  • Explains the concepts of Upaśama Śreņi (ladder of suppression of passions) and Kṣapaka Śreņi (ladder of destruction of karmas) as paths to liberation.

3. Jaina Technical Terms Glossary:

• The book concludes with an extensive glossary of "Jaina Technical Terms," providing definitions for a vast array of Jaina philosophical and practical concepts, demonstrating the depth and specificity of Jaina terminology.

Overall Impression:

"Jaina Philosophy: An Introduction" by Mohan Lal Mehta is a scholarly yet comprehensive work that delves deeply into the philosophical and theological intricacies of Jainism. It systematically covers the religion's history, scriptures, metaphysical principles (ontology, epistemology, soul, matter), ethical framework, and the doctrine of karma, all presented with reference to classical Jaina texts and supported by comparative insights from other philosophical traditions. The book is a valuable resource for anyone seeking a thorough understanding of Jaina thought.