Principles & Philosophy Of Jainism

By Shri A. D. Jain

The fundamental principles of Jainism can be briefly stated as follows :

(i) Man's Personality is Dual : The first fundamental principle of Jainism is that man's personality is Dual, i.e. is material and spiritual. Jain philosophy regards that every mundane soul is bound by subtle particles of matter known as Karma from the very beginning. It considers that just as gold is found in the alloy form in the mines, in three same way mundane soul is found in the bondage of Karma, from time immemorial. The impurity of mundane soul is thus treated as an existing condition.

(ii) Man is not Perfect : The second principle that man is not perfect is based on the first principle. The imperfectness in man is attributed to the existence of Karma embodied with soul. The human soul is in a position to obtain perfection and in the free and eternal state it is endowed with four characteristics. Annanth Darshna, Annant-Jnana, Annant-Virya and Annant -Sukha i.e. infinite perception or faith, infinite knowledge, infinite power and infinite bliss.

(iii) Man is the Master of his Material Nature : Even though man is not perfect the third principle states that by his spiritual efforts man can and must control his material nature. It is only after the entire subjugation of matter that the soul attains perfection, freedom and happiness. It is emphatically maintained that man will be able to sale across the ocean of births and achieve perfection through the control of senses and thought processes.

(iv) Man alone is responsible for his Future : The last basic principle stresses that it is only each individual that can scientifically separate his own soul from the matter combined with it. The separation cannot be affected by any other person. This means man himself, and he alone is responsible for all that is good or bad in his life. He cannot absolve himself from the responsibility of experiencing the fruits of his actions.

It is pertinent to know that this principle distinguishes Jainism from other religions ex. Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. According to Jainism, no God nor his prophet or deputy or beloved can interfere with the destiny of any being, with creation of the Universe or with any happening in the Universe. Jainism also stresses that the Universe goes on its own accord. In view of this specific attitude towards God, Jainism is accused of being atheistic. This accusation is based on the fact that Jainism does not attribute the creation of Universe to God. But at the same time it must be realized that Jainism cannot be labeled as atheistic because of the basic facts that Jainism firmly believes in Godhood, in an infinity of Gods, in punya (merit) and pap (demerit), and in various religious practices etc. Jainism believes that the emancipated soul is itself God. It is thus cleared, that Jainism cannot, in general, be considered as an atheistic religion.

Philosophy of Jainism

With a view to achieve emancipation of soul from the bondage of Karmas, man has to acquire the knowledge of the beatific condition and of the cause which stand in the way of its attainment. To find out these causes it is necessary to understand the nature of reality as it exists, satya is the concept that explains the nature of reality.

Jainism believes that "Satya", i.e. reality, is uncreated and eternal and further asserts that satya i.e. reality, is characterized by utpada i.e. origination or appearance, vyaya, i.e. destruction or disappearance and dhrauvya i.e. permanence. Jainism categorically states that every object of reality is found possessed of infinite characters, both with respect to what it is and what it is not.

In other words according to Jainism every object of reality has its paryayas i.e moods and gunas i.e. qualities through which persists the essentials substrata through all the times i.e. why it is asserted that basic substance with its gunas i.e. qualities, is something that is permanent, and that its moods or changing characteristic appear or disappear.

Thus both change and permanence are facts of experience for ex., the soul or spirit is eternal with its inseparable character of consciousness but at the same time it is subjected top accidental characters like pleasure and pain and super imposed moods such as body etc. both of which are changing constantly. For instance gold with its scholar and density is something that is permanent though its is subjected to different shapes at different times.

Jainism believes that in this world the substances are real as they are characterized by existence. Jainism also believes that the entire substances of the Universe can be broadly divided into two major categories i.e. Jeev (living or soul and Ajeev i.e. non-living or non-soul). These two categories exhaust between them all that exists in the Universe. Jain philosophy is based on the nature and interaction of these two elements.

It is this interaction between the living and the non-living, when they come in contact with each other, that certain energy generate which bring about birth, death and various experiences of life. This processes can be stopped and the energies already forged can be destroyed by a course of discipline leading to salvation.

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