Dr. N.L. Kachhara
Next Vyakta and his disciples went to Mahavira. Mahavira said, "Vyakta! You have a doubt about the existence of bhutas, material existences, because you have not properly followed the Vedas. I shall remove your doubt. Vyakta! You believe that the visible world is like a dream, and that all invisible elements like the soul, merit (punya), demerit (papa), etc. are also illusion. Thus the whole universe is really shunya, non-existent. You also think that all phenomena in the world are relative, small or big, and therefore the existence of the real is not proved with respect to the self, others or both. Hence the universe is non-existent. Similarly, no relation of existence, unity, diversity, etc. can be proved in the case of matter, and so nothing exists. Hence the universe must be assumed to be non-existent.
“Your doubts are wrong: because if the world did not exist, then you could not doubt about it. You can raise a doubt only when a thing exists, like a place or a person. So your belief that everything is non-existent is not right. The existence of an object is proved by direct experience, inference or Agama; therefore, we only have doubts about those things whose existence is established by these means. Secondly, doubt is a mode of jnana (intelligence), and intelligence is not possible without the knower. Hence for doubt to exist, the existence of a knower is essential.
“Someone may say that if nothing exists there can still be doubt. For instance, a person may doubt that he is an elephant or a mountain in a dream. Therefore doubt can exist even if nothing exists in reality. But this thinking is not right. A doubt in a dream is also based on the memory of past experience. If nothing exists, you cannot doubt even in a dream.
“You see a dream for the following reasons:
- Your past experience, like bathing, etc.
- Your past observed objects, like a dog, cow, etc.
- Your mental thoughts, like your spouse, son, etc.
- Things you have heard about, like heaven, hell, etc.
- Physical disorders, like disease, trauma, etc.
- Favorable or adverse conditions, i.e. pleasure and pain
- Your emotions
- Your merit (punya) and demerit (papa)
“Dream is a reflection of your attributes and is a product of your creation. One of the shortcomings of this theory of non-existence is that it does not distinguish between dream and non-dream, true and false, main and auxiliary, goal and means, cause and action, speaker and speech, for and against an argument, etc.
“Saying that every action is relative, or the existence of no object is established, is not correct. Let us consider whether our knowledge of something as big or small is concurrent or progressive. If concurrent, than we must agree that when we know that the middle finger is big, we simultaneously know that the ring finger is small. In this case, we cannot say that big and small are relative. If the knowledge of big and small were progressive, then we would first know that the ring finger is small; and this perception would be independent of the perception of the bigness of the middle finger. So we have to believe that the perception of big and small is not a relative experience. For instance, when a baby opens his eyes for the first time, how does he perceive sizes? If we know two things simultaneously our perception is not relative. In view of all these cases, we must believe that our knowledge of a given object is not relative to another object. When we remember an object of the past, then we realize that this object is small or big. Therefore we must believe that the existence of objects is self-proven.
“We can prove the existence of matter, etc. If the existence of an object A is relative to the existence of another object B, then when object B is destroyed object A must also be destroyed automatically, since A is dependent on B. But this does not happen. This proves that though the attributes of the object are relative, their existence is independent. Hence there should be no doubt about the existence of earth, water, fire, etc. which are directly visible. Air and akasa are not visible and you may doubt their existence. But remember, the property of touch is an attribute of the object. Since air has the property of touch its existence is established. Earth, water, fire and air are physical substances and they require a space for existence, just like the storage of water needs a pot. The substance that holds earth, water, fire and air is akasa."
Clearing the doubts of Vyakta about the bhutas, Mahavira continued, "In their natural state, until they are operated upon by some process, these bhutas are sachetan, i.e. they possess consciousness. They exhibit the properties of a living being. Akasa is non-physical; it accommodates jivas but is not jiva itself. Earth is living as it possesses the attributes of birth, aging, life, death, destruction, recovery, hunger, disease, treatment, etc. that are typical of living beings. The plant Lajwanti contracts on contact. Creepers grow toward trees for support. The plant Shamihas been found to have signs of sleep, awareness and contraction. The Vakultree enjoys speech, the Ashoka tree enjoys beauty, the Kurubuck tree enjoys smell, the Virahaka tree enjoys taste, and the Champaka tree enjoys touch. Water is living, as it oozes out of earth like a frog and falls from the sky like a fish. Air travels in a lateral direction like a cow and is therefore living. Fire is also living, as it grows by feeding on fuel wood just like humans grow by consuming food.
“The question is, if earth, plants, water, air and fire are living beings, then are their consumers committing violence? How are the Shramanas free from violence? This is because the processed earth, plants, water, air and fire are not living anymore; they become non-living. It is not right to think that a person is guilty of violence when he has killed some living beings and not guilty of violence because he has not killed other living beings. It is also not right to say that killing a few beings is not violence and violence occurs only when killing a large number of beings. The identifying sign of violence is an ill feeling towards the beings, even if no killing takes place. A person having pure feelings is free of the charge of violence, even if killing has inadvertently taken place.
“A monk observing the five carefulness (samiti) and three restraints (gupti) is considered free from the charge of violence. But persons living an unrestrained life are not free from the charge of violence. A monk observing restraints in his life is not guilty of violence irrespective of whether violence has taken place, because the basis of the charge of violence is adhyavasaya, the vibrations of the soul at that instant and not the act of violence itself. In effect, the ill transformation of the soul is violence. Such ill transformation of the soul may or may not be associated with the killing of another life. Any killing that causes an ill transformation of the soul is surely violence, but that killing which does not induce an ill transformation of the soul is not regarded as violence."
Mahavira removed all of the doubts of Vyakta on the existence of bhutas. Along with his 500 disciples, Vyakta was initiated into the Order of Mahavira.
