How does Jainism fit in Hinduism?

A nice article I found on a usenet group:

Vedic, Bauddha and Jaina are branches of Sanatana Dharma. Jainism is

certainly as old as the Vedic dharma. Two of its 24 Tirthankaras, Rishaba and

Arishtanemi, are mentioned in the Rig Vedas. Rishaba, the first of the

Tirthankaras, is believed to be the founder of Jaina dharma while Mahavira is

the last.



Jainism, Buddhism and Carvaka systems are considered nastika

(heterodox) sampradaya of Sanatana Dharma while Nyaya, Vaiseshka, Sankhya,

Yoga, Purva Mimansa and Vedanta are the called astika or orthodox systems.

I give below a comparison between Jainism and Hinduism in general and

between Jainism and Sankhya darshan in particular:



Jainism and Hinduism

--------------------

1. Jainism rejects the rituals of Vedas i.e. the Karma Kanda of the

Vedas and also the caste system. Of course Vedic rituals (Karma Kanda) are

really for beginners. Jains, however, want to have nothing to do with them

from the very beginning. Also the caste system as propounded by Sri Krishna in

the Gita is a merit based system while caste system as seen in Hindu society is

a birth based system. That is Hindus do not follow Sri Krishna's advice.



2. It does not accept God as the creator of the world. According to

Jaina sampradaya the universe is beginning-less (anadi), endless (ananta) and

operates according to natural laws. The various Vedantic sampradayas have

different views on the subject. Advaita Vedanta holds that The Ultimate Reality

is impersonal and the world is a projection and is ultimately unreal. There is

a Personal God but such a God is ultimately unreal also. The other schools of

Vedanta like Vishistadvaita and dvaita hold the Ultimate Reality as Personal

and that the universe is real. There are other Vedantic schools which give

equal importance to impersonal and personal God (Bhedabhed, Sri Ramakrishna's

school).



3.Both Jainism and Hinduism believe in the immortality of the soul and

in the law of Karma. Both accept the doctrine of Ahimsa (non-violence). But

Jainism makes Ahimsa its central doctrine and it is the first of the five vows,

(ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truthfulness), asteya (non-stealing),

brahmacharya (chastity) and aparigraha (non-attachment)) taught by the last

Tirthankar.



4. The goal of life according to Jainism is to attain Kevala. You may

wonder that since there is no Personal God what does attaining Kevala mean?

It is necessary to discuss the concept of Jiva in Jainism to understand this.

There are two independent and distinct categories of Reality, Jiva (soul) and

Ajiva [matter(pudgala), space(akash), time (kala), dharma, and adharma]. A

liberated Jiva has perfect knowledge, purity, peace etc. A bound Jiva has a

body and is associated with karmic forces. Jainism considers karmic forces to

be matter like which actually cover the glory of soul. The analogy given is

like a lamp covered by soot. To attain Kevala means to restore the glory of the

soul by removing the covering of Karma. The Jain teaching is not that different

from Advaita Vedanta. Both Kevala and Mokhsha allow jivas to transcend the

world of names and forms. It is necessary to take the five vows (mentioned in

point (2) and to follow the three jewels (right faith, right knowledge, and

right conduct) to attain Kevala. Kevala can be reached by one's own effort.

There is no savior. The person wanting Kevala must do selfless work without

desire for rewards. Jainism emphasizes ascetism.





So Jainism is infact quite similar to Advaita Vedanta specially to the

path of Karma Yoga and Jnana Yoga. There is some similarity with Sankhya

as both reject the idea of a creator God. The differences between them are in

defining certain concepts like jiva. In jainism, jiva is characterized by

consciousness, life, immateriality, and extension in space. The size of the

individual soul is the same as the size of the body it occupies; expanding and

contracting. In Sankhya, purusha is an eternal,immutable, conscious entity

which is nonactive and has neither birth or death. So there is no question of

contraction or expansion of the jiva. It is the phenomenal self, a blend of

purusha and mind, which is subject to change. There are also other differences.





Jainism and Sankhya

-------------------



All Indian philosophical systems are concerned with four basic issues:

Jiva (individual soul), Jagat (world), Brahman/Ishwar (Absolute/Personal God)

and Mokhsa (liberation). We have to compare the position of Jaina dharma and

Sankhya darshana on these four issues to be able to see the similarities and

differences.



1. Brahman/Ishvara



Both Jaina dharma and Sankhya darshana deny the existence of a creator

God.



2. Jagat



If you deny the existence of a creator then you have to face the

problem of explaining the existence of the world. As we will see these two

systems solve the problem in two different ways.



Jaina dharma denies there is any creation. To understand the Jaina

position we have to know that there are two major categories in Jaina dharma,

Jiva (individual soul) and Ajiva (non-soul). Jiva and Ajiva comprise the whole

of universe and both are eternal. To those who think that there needs to be a

creator to create the universe, the jainas ask: who will create the creator?

In Jaina view it is dangerous to assume the existence of a creator as it will

create the need for more creators. It is best to terminate the series at the

level of jiva and ajiva, both of which are eternal. The world is real in Jaina

view unlike Advaita Vedanta for example.



Sankhya darshana also denies that there is any creation but in a

different manner. Sankhya darshana also has two categories, Purusha and

Prakriti. Purusha is pure Consciousness while Prakriti contains within itself

the materials for the universe which evolves into mind and matter. There are

many Purushas but only one Prakriti. The entire universe has come out of

prakriti by the proximity of Purusha and into it it will return. There has

been no creation and so there will be no destruction. So Prakriti may be

thought of as the uncaused cause of the universe. Sankhya darshana postulates

evolution of a real universe from a primordial prakriti (satkarya vada).



3. Jiva



According to Jaina dharma, Jiva (individual soul) is characterized

by consciousness, life, immateriality and is madhyama-parimana (middling size)

. The individual occupies the whole of the body in which he dwells, changing

with the body as it changes. This idea of a changing soul is strikingly

different from the idea of the eternal, immutable, conscious Purusha of

Sankhya.



4. Mokhsa



All major sampradayas of Sanatan Dharma agree that Mokhsa is

liberation from the bonds of Karma and rebirth. Jaina Dharma is unique in that

it postulates that Karma is something material albeit very fine as not to be

perceived by the senses. As the soul comes into contact with the material

world it experiences desire for enjoyment, for example, which causes the karma

molecules to flow into the soul and change its size. This flowing in of Karma

particles into the soul is called asrava and is unique to Jaina metaphysics.

Then the molecules become settled and build up a body on the soul called

karmana sarir. Even when the physical body dies the soul together with the

karmana sarira live on until the final liberation. Moksha essentially means

freeing the soul from the weight of the karma particles accumulated over many

births.



In Sankhya darshana a jiva is bound when he identifies through

ignorance with his mind, intellect and body. Liberation is achieved when the

jiva realizes that he is pure consciousness or Purusha. The jiva has apart from

the gross body also a subtle body which consists of the intellect, mind and

the senses. When the gross body dies the subtle body which contains the

impressions due to Karma exists. These impressions on the subtle body

determines the next birth. Thus in Sankhya the soul is kept constant while

Karma which is non-material affects the subtle body of the Jiva.







Regards

Was originallly written by Pradip Gangopadhyay
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