Dr. Samani Mangal Pragya
Whenever any action is undertaken, a question arises as to the motive behind it? What is the cause for it? No code of conduct can be formulated without knowing the base. First of all, the search of the base is essential. Generally, in all the Indian philosophies, the concept of soul remained the back-bone of conduct. The code of conduct formulated on the basis of atheist philosophy, would be different from the one formulated on the basis of ātmavāda i.e. theism.
The base for the code of conduct in Jain philosophy is the acceptance in the existence of soul. Thus, knowledge of the soul is essential before determining the code of conduct. 'Acārāṅga' begins with a question related to the soul, as to who am I[1]? Can the soul be known? Lord
Mahavira replies in affirmation. The soul can be known. Three means of knowing the soul are explained in 'Acārāṅga'[2]
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Transcendental knowledge can be developed with continuous spiritual practice. The soul can be realized through this.
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Despite doing rigorous spiritual practices, if such power of intuition does not develop, further attempts must continue. When it becomes known that someone is a possessor of transcendental knowledge, one must go to him and ask him questions such as, who am I, from where have I come? etc.
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If any person happens to meet any transcendentalist, then he must ask such person, the above said questions and get their answers.
One should try to know his own existence with the help of these three means. When the knowledge about existence of the self is gained, the path ahead becomes clearer. With the knowledge that, the soul exists, I also exist, I am conscious, I was in the past and I will be in future also etc. is gained, then, most of the problems of ācāra śastra (doctrine of ethics) get resolved automatically.
The faith in the existence of the soul is the first step to self realization. In the absence of self realization, faith in the existence of the soul does not contribute much in the field of conduct. Spiritual progression begins with the acceptance of the soul's existence in the past, present and future and its migration in the world caused by the karmas. When all these facts are known, one's spiritual journey begins. The soul is at the centre of Jain ethics. Soul is bound to the karma in the worldly state, that's why it is transmigrating. It is mandatory to free the soul from karmas in order to terminate its transmigration. With this ideology, we can comprehend that the corner stone of Jain conduct is the theory of karma. When we look into the Jain ethics with a holistic approach, we comprehend that the concept of conduct has been formulated on the basis of the concept of karma. When a person accepts initiation into monkhood, his first resolution is 'savvaṃ sāvajjaṃ jogaṃ paccakkhāmi'.[3] His practice of śramaṇatva (ascetic life) starts with his resolution of renouncing all sinful activities. The recognition of conduct for both a monk and a householder depends upon the theory of karma. The tendency through which karmic inflow occurs is relinquishable. Defiled conduct is centainly relinquishable. Akaraṇijjaṃ pāvakammaṃ.[4] Action which destroys the previously acquired karmas and which does not accrue new karmas is prescribed as good conduct for a spiritual practitioner. Eternality of soul is acceptable to Jain philosophy.[5] The pure form of the soul is not available in the worldly state due to the bondage of karmas. Impurity of soul is because of karma, which becomes the cause of its transmigration in different worldly realms. The fact that the soul in this worldly state is impure proves the existence of karma and its cause i.e. action. Due to karmas soul transmigrates in the world. That's why on the basis of conduct, four doctrines are explained in 'Ācārāṅga'. Ātmavāda (doctrine of Soul), Lokavāda (doctrine of world), Karmavāda (doctrine of karma), Kriyāvāda (doctrine of action)[6] are very important to discuss in the context of the concept of conduct. According to Acharya Mahaprajna, all these four doctrines are the backbone of the ethics. Taking this idea into consideration, he has written that- 'The first element is soul. After acknowledging soul, it is acknowledged that loka exists. Meaning of 'loka'here is matter. Matter is visible. 'lokyate iti loka- that which is visible, is loka. Matter can be seen, so it has been called loka. One, who knows soul, knows matter. One, who believes in the existence of the soul, believes in the existence of the world. Soul and matter co- exist, but if there is no inter-relation between them, then neither soul can influence matter nor can matter influence the soul. If there had been existence of soul alone or matter alone, then there would have been no reason for the migration of soul in the world. There is a relation between the soul and the matter and this relation is bridged by the karma. Karma is the cause for the migration of the soul in the world. Actions are the cause of the relation between the soul and karma. No relation can be established in the state of non-doing. As the grip of passions gets weaker, the condition of inaction develops, then the relation of soul and karma also weakens. When the soul attains the state of inaction completely, after ascending to the 14th Guṇasthāna, the relation between the karma and soul comes to an end.[7]
