Samaysara

Summary of Samaysara by Kundakundacharya

This document is a Gujarati translation of the Jain text "Samaysara" by Kundakundacharya, translated by Shrimati Sakarben Shah. The text delves into the core principles of Jain philosophy, focusing on the nature of the soul, the path to liberation, and the correct understanding of reality.

Core Themes and Concepts:

• Nature of the Soul (Jiva): Samaysara emphasizes the soul's inherent nature as pure consciousness (chaitanya), untouched by external substances or karmic influences. The soul is described as eternal, formless, and the knower of all.
• Dichotomy of Nayas (Perspectives): The text highlights the importance of understanding reality from two key perspectives:
  • Nishchay Naya (Ultimate/Absolute Truth): This perspective focuses on the soul's pure, unadulterated nature, free from all qualities of other substances. It is the realm of self-realization and liberation.
  • Vyavahar Naya (Conventional/Practical Truth): This perspective describes the soul's interaction with the empirical world, including its involvement with karma, body, and worldly experiences. While not the ultimate reality, it serves as a stepping stone or a way to explain the absolute truth. The text stresses that vyavahar should always lead to nishchay.
• Rejection of Externalism: Samaysara strongly advocates for internal realization over external practices. True religion lies in the soul's self-contemplation and realization of its own pure nature, not in rituals, penances, or external forms.
• The Path to Liberation (Moksha): Liberation is attained through the realization of the soul's true nature, which involves:
  • Samayika (Equanimity): Cultivating equanimity and detachment from worldly phenomena.
  • Jnana (Right Knowledge): Understanding the true nature of the soul and reality, free from ignorance and delusion.
  • Darshan (Right Faith): Having unwavering faith in the soul's inherent purity and the path to liberation.
  • Charitra (Right Conduct): Living in accordance with this knowledge and faith, which ultimately means living in one's own soul.
• Karma and its Dissolution: The text explains how karma binds the soul and how, through the cessation of attachment, aversion, and delusion, karma can be shed, leading to liberation. It emphasizes that the soul's true nature is unaffected by karma.
• The Role of the Soul's Own Nature: The ultimate key to liberation lies within the soul itself. By dwelling in its own pure consciousness, the soul can overcome all afflictions and achieve its inherent state of bliss and omniscience.
• Critique of Other Philosophies: Kundakundacharya, through Samaysara, implicitly or explicitly critiques viewpoints that do not align with the pure soul-centric philosophy of Jainism.

Key Sections and Concepts Elaborated:

The table of contents and the translated text reveal the structure of Samaysara, focusing on essential Jain doctrines:

• Jiva-Ajiva Adhikar (Soul and Non-Soul Chapter): This section establishes the fundamental distinction between the soul (jiva) and non-soul (ajiva) substances, highlighting the soul's pure, conscious nature and its freedom from the qualities of non-soul. It explains how to discern the soul from its worldly manifestations.
• Karta-Karma Adhikar (Doer and Done Chapter): This chapter clarifies the nature of action and causality, explaining that the soul is the true doer and experiencer of its own states, not external factors or karma itself. It emphasizes the soul's inherent lack of agency in karmic actions and the illusion of doing or experiencing through delusion.
• Punya-Papa Adhikar (Merit and Demerit Chapter): This section elucidates that both merit (punya) and demerit (papa) are karmic bondage and are to be renounced by the enlightened being. True liberation comes from transcending both.
• Asrava Adhikar (Inflow of Karma Chapter): This chapter describes the channels through which karma enters the soul, primarily through passions (kashayas) and activities (yoga). The goal is to curb these inflows.
• Samvara Adhikar (Cessation of Karma Inflow Chapter): This section explains how to stop the inflow of new karma by restraining passions and activities, primarily through the development of right knowledge, faith, and conduct.
• Nirjara Adhikar (Shedding of Karma Chapter): This chapter focuses on the process of purifying the soul by shedding past karma through austerities, penance, and intense spiritual practice, driven by detachment and right knowledge.
• Bandha Adhikar (Bondage of Karma Chapter): This chapter elaborates on how karma binds the soul, emphasizing the role of attachment, aversion, and ignorance in the process.
• Moksha Adhikar (Liberation Chapter): This section describes the ultimate goal of liberation, the state of the soul's complete freedom from karma, its inherent omniscience, and eternal bliss.
• Sarvavishuddha Jnana Adhikar (Chapter on Pure Knowledge): This final section likely summarizes and reinforces the idea that the soul's true nature is pure knowledge and that realizing this state is the ultimate path to liberation.

Significance of the Translation:

The translation by Shrimati Sakarben Shah aims to make the profound philosophical insights of Samaysara accessible to a Gujarati-speaking audience. The preface and publisher's notes indicate a deep appreciation for Kundakundacharya's teachings and the influence of Shrimad Rajchandra in promoting this understanding. The emphasis is on understanding the essence (marm) of the teachings through contemplation rather than mere rote learning.

In essence, Samaysara, as presented in this translation, is a guide to self-discovery and spiritual liberation, urging the reader to look within and realize the soul's inherent purity and divinity, independent of all external circumstances and karmic entanglements.