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Niyamsara

Added to library: September 2, 2025

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First page of Niyamsara

Summary

Here's a comprehensive summary of the Jain text "Niyamsara" based on the provided pages, covering its core teachings and structure:

Book Title: Niyamsara (The Perfect Law)

Author: Shri Kundakundacharya

Translator/Commentator: Uggar Sain, assisted by Brahmachari Sital Prasad Ji

Publisher: Central Jaina Publishing House, Lucknow, India (1931)

Overall Purpose of Niyamsara:

The title "Niyamsara" signifies "the Perfect Law" or "the Right Rule." The central aim of this treatise is to elucidate the path to liberation (Moksha) in Jainism. This path is defined as the combined practice of Right Belief (Samyak Darshana), Right Knowledge (Samyak Jnana), and Right Conduct (Samyak Charitra), often referred to as the Three Jewels. The book emphasizes that the ultimate goal is the soul's liberation from all karmic bondage, leading to its inherent pure, blissful, and omniscient state.

Core Philosophical Concepts Explained:

The text systematically breaks down fundamental Jain principles:

  1. Soul (Jiva) and Non-Soul (Ajiva):

    • Soul (Jiva): The soul is presented as the only conscious substance. From a "real" perspective (Nishchaya Naya), even a mundane soul is inherently pure, peaceful, all-knowing, and all-blissful. From a "practical" perspective (Vyavahara Naya), it experiences various states of pain and pleasure due to karmic influences. Its core attribute is Upayoga (consciousness or attentiveness), which manifests as knowledge and conation.
    • Non-Soul (Ajiva): This category comprises the other five real substances:
      • Matter (Pudgala): The most significant, characterized by touch, taste, smell, and color. It exists as atoms and molecules, with varying degrees of grossness and fineness.
      • Dharma Dravya (Medium of Motion): An immaterial substance that facilitates motion for souls and matter.
      • Adharma Dravya (Medium of Rest): An immaterial substance that facilitates rest for souls and matter.
      • Akasha Dravya (Space): An infinite immaterial substance that provides space for all other substances.
      • Kala Dravya (Time): An immaterial substance that causes modifications in all substances.

  2. Karmic Bondage and Liberation:

    • Asrava (Inflow): The inflow of karmic molecules towards the soul, caused by its mental, verbal, and physical activities.
    • Bandha (Bondage): The assimilation of karmic molecules with the soul, primarily caused by wrong belief, vow-lessness, passions (Kashaya), and soul activities (Yoga).
    • Samvara (Stoppage): The checking of the inflow and bondage of karmas, achieved through right belief, vows, passionlessness, and restraint of activities.
    • Nirjara (Shedding): The process of shedding off accumulated karmas, either naturally at maturity or prematurely through austerities and pure thought-activities.
    • Moksha (Liberation): The state of freedom from all karmic matter, achieved when the causes of bondage are eliminated and all existing karmas are shed. This is the state of a Siddha (perfect soul).

  3. The Three Jewels (Path to Liberation):

    • Right Belief (Samyak Darshana): True and firm belief in the omniscient and defectless beings (Apta), the faultless scriptures (Agama), and the fundamental principles or categories (Tattvas). It is to be free from doubt, perversity, and indefiniteness.
    • Right Knowledge (Samyak Jnana): The detailed and accurate understanding of the seven principles, free from doubt, perversity, and indefiniteness. It involves knowing the soul as distinct from all non-soul substances.
    • Right Conduct (Samyak Charitra): The practice of the five great vows (Mahavratas): Ahimsa (non-violence), Satya (truthfulness), Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (chastity), and Aparigraha (non-attachment). This conduct is observed either partially (by laymen) or fully (by ascetics). The text details supplementary vows and spiritual stages for laymen, progressively leading towards asceticism.

  4. The Six Essential Duties (Shad-Avashyaka): The text describes six daily duties prescribed for saints. These are analyzed from both practical and real perspectives:

    • Practical (Vyavahara): Repentance (Pratikramana), Renunciation (Pratyakhyana), Praising (Stuti), Obeisance (Vandana), Equanimity (Samayika), and Relinquishment of attachment to the body (Kayotsarga). These are auxiliary means for spiritual progress.
    • Real (Nishchaya): These duties are ultimately identified with the pure, unadulterated state of the soul itself, which is inherently free from passions, actions, and external influences. Self-realization is the ultimate form of these duties.

Detailed Breakdown of Chapters:

  • Chapter I: Soul (Jiva): Defines the soul, its nature, and its distinction from matter and other non-soul substances. It introduces Upayoga and the eightfold division of knowledge.
  • Chapter II: Non-Soul (Ajiva): Elaborates on the five non-soul substances, particularly focusing on matter (Pudgala) with its atomic and molecular structure and attributes. It also explains the functions of Dharma, Adharma, Space, and Time.
  • Chapter III: Pure Thought-Activity (Shuddha Bhava): This chapter delves into the real nature of the soul, emphasizing its inherent freedom from all karmic states, passions, physical characteristics, and worldly classifications (like species, age, or life-stages). It asserts that from the real perspective, the soul is identical in nature to a liberated soul (Siddha).
  • Chapter IV: Practical Right Conduct (Vyavahara Charitra): Details the five great vows (Mahavratas) and the associated practices and observances that constitute practical right conduct, primarily for ascetics but also outlining the spiritual progression for laymen.
  • Chapter V: Repentance (Pratikramana): Explains repentance from both practical (acknowledging faults to a preceptor) and real (meditation on the pure self, leading to shedding of karmas) perspectives. Real repentance is identified with self-absorption.
  • Chapter VI: Renunciation (Pratyakhyana): Discusses renunciation as the abandonment of all external influences and future karmic inclinations, leading to meditation on the pure soul. Real renunciation is self-realization.
  • Chapter VII: Confession (Alochaná): Explores confession in its four aspects (acknowledgement, eradication, non-deformity, purity of thought), emphasizing that real confession is achieved through equanimity and the meditation on the pure soul, which leads to the destruction of karmic roots.
  • Chapter VIII: Expiation (Prayaschitta): Defines expiation as the practice of vows, control, austerities, and meditation on the soul's true nature. Conquering passions (anger by forgiveness, pride by humility, etc.) and constant meditation are highlighted as real expiation.
  • Chapter IX: Supreme Equanimity (Parama Samadhi): Describes supreme equanimity as the state of being absorbed in the soul through righteous and pure meditation, free from worldly attachments and sensory distractions. It is the outcome of self-control and detachment.
  • Chapter X: Supreme Devotion (Parama Bhakti): Defines devotion towards the Three Jewels and the liberated souls. Real devotion involves meditating on the soul, free from all external thought-activities, and recognizing oneself as pure and liberated.
  • Chapter XI: Real Independence (Nishchaya Avashyaka): Explains "Avashyaka" as independent action, which is the soul's inherent capacity to act without dependence on any external factors. This independence, achieved through self-absorption and detachment from all worldly influences and even from external religious practices, is the true path to liberation. The distinction between the internal soul (Antarátmá) engaged in this, and the external soul (Bahirátmá) focused on mere formalities, is made.
  • Chapter XII: Pure Consciousness (Shuddha Upayoga): Discusses the simultaneous existence of perfect knowledge and perfect conation in an omniscient soul, akin to the sun's light and heat. It clarifies that real knowledge and conation illuminate the self. The chapter contrasts practical and real perspectives, ultimately asserting that the omniscient perceives the soul in its pure nature, which is the ultimate state of liberation (Nirvana).

Key Themes and Emphasis:

  • Naya (Standpoints): The text frequently distinguishes between the "real" (Nishchaya Naya) and "practical" (Vyavahara Naya) viewpoints, showing how ultimate truth is realized through the real perspective, while the practical perspective guides the path.
  • Self-Realization: The ultimate goal is the soul's realization of its own pure, inherent nature, independent of all karmic encumbrances and external influences.
  • Detachment (Vairagya): Freedom from attachment and aversion to worldly objects and experiences is crucial for spiritual progress.
  • Austerities and Meditation: These are presented as means to achieve the ultimate goal, leading to the shedding of karmas and the realization of the self.
  • The Five Great Souls (Pancha Parmeshthi): While not explicitly detailed in the provided snippets, the context of Acharya, Upadhyaya, Sadhu, Arhat, and Siddha as great souls who follow these principles is implied.

In essence, Niyamsara is a profound exposition of Jain spiritual philosophy, guiding the practitioner from the gross realities of the world and karmic bondage towards the subtle and ultimate realization of the soul's pure, independent, and liberated state.