SÛTRAKRITÂṄGA.

Jaina Sutras, Part II (SBE45), tr. by Hermann Jacobi, [1895], at sacred-texts.com

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p. 234 p. 235

FIRST LECTURE,

CALLED

THE DOCTRINE ².

FIRST CHAPTER.

One should know what causes the bondage of Soul, and knowing (it) one should remove ³ it.

(Gambûsvâmin asked Sudharman):

What causes the bondage (of Soul) according to Mahâvîra? and what must one know in order to remove it? (1)

(Sudharman answered):

He who owns even a small property in living or lifeless things ⁴, or consents to others holding it, will not be delivered from misery. (2)

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If a man kills living beings, or causes other men to kill them, or consents to their killing them, his iniquity will go on increasing. (3)

A sinner who makes the interests of his kinsmen ¹ and companions his own, will suffer much; for the number of those whose interest he takes to heart constantly increases. (4)

All this, his wealth and his nearest relations, cannot protect him (from future misery); knowing (this) and (the value of) life, he will get rid of Karman. (5)

Some men ², Sramanas and Brâhmanas, who ignore and deny these true words ³, adhere (to their own tenets), and are given to pleasures. (6)

Some ⁴ profess (the exclusive belief in) the five gross elements: earth, water, fire, wind, and air. (7)

'These five gross elements (are the original causes of things), from them arises another (thing, viz. âtman) ⁵; for on the dissolution of the (five elements) living beings cease to exist. (8)

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'And as the Earth, though it is but one pile, presents many forms, so the intelligent (principle, viz. the âtman) appears under various forms as the universe ¹.' (9)

Thus say some fools. (But how can they explain on their theory that) the man engaging in undertakings, who has committed a sin, will himself suffer severe pain. ²? (10)

'Everybody, fool or sage, has an individual soul. These souls exist (as long as the body), but after death they are no more; there are no souls which are born again. (11)

'There is neither virtue nor vice, there is no world beyond; on the dissolution of the body the individual ceases to be.' (12)

'When a man acts or causes another to act, it is not his soul (âtman) which acts or causes to act ³.' Thus they (viz. the adherents of the Sâṅkhya philosophy) boldly proclaim. (13)

How can those who hold such opinions explain (the variety of existence in) the world? They go from darkness to utter darkness, being fools and engaged in works. (14)

Some ⁴ say that there are five elements and that

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the soul is a sixth (substance), but they contend that the soul and the world (i.e. the five elements) are eternal. (15)

'These (six substances) do not perish neither (without nor with a cause); the non-existent does not come into existence, but all things are eternal by their very nature ¹.' (16)

Some fools ² say that there are five skandhas of momentary existence. They do not admit that (the soul) is different from, nor identical ³ with (the elements), that it is produced from a cause (i.e. the elements), nor that it is without a cause (i.e. that it is eternal). (17)

The Gânayas ⁴ say that there are four elements: earth, water, fire, and wind, which combined form the body (or soul?). (18)

(All these heretics say): 'Those who dwell in houses, in woods, or on hills, will be delivered from all misery if they adopt our creed.' (19)

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But they do not cross the Flood of Life, who, ignoring the true relation of things, and not versed in the true Law, hold the above heretical opinions. (20)

They do not reach the end of the Samsâra, who, ignoring, &c. (21)

They do not reach the end of transmigration, who, &c. (22)

They do not put an end to birth, who, &c. (23)

They do not put an end to misery, who, &c. (24)

They do not put an end to death, who, &c. (25)

They will again and again experience manifold pains in this ring ¹ of the earth, which is full of death, disease, and old age. (26)

The highest Gina, Mahâvîra the Gñâtriputra, has said that they will undergo births without number, being placed in all sorts of existences. (27)

Thus I say.

Footnotes

235:1 Srutaskandha. Its Sanskrit title mentioned by Sîlâṅka is Gâthâshôdasaka, i.e. the book whose Sixteenth Lecture is called Gâthâ. It is mentioned in the Uttarâdhyayana XXXI, 13 by the name of the sixteen Gâthas; see above, p, 182.

235:2 Samaya. This title is not found in MSS. at the end of the lecture, but it is given by the author of the Niryukti (verse 29). The subject of this lecture is more fully treated in §§ 15-33 of the First Lecture of the Second Book.

235:3 Tiuttiggâ. The commentators translate this word trôtayêt, but the true Sanskrit original is ativartêta, as is evident from the form atiuttanti in I, 2, 22.

235:4 Living and lifeless things as we understand these words, not p. 236 as the Gainas do. The original has: kittamantam akittam vâ, beings possessed of intellect, and things without intellect. The latter are, according to Gaina notions, living beings gîva as well as inanimate matter.

236:1 Literally, those in whose family he is born. Sîlâṅka, the author of the oldest Tîkâ on the Sûtrakritâṅga, names the Râshtrakûtas or Râthors in order to illustrate what is meant by family.'

236:2 According to Sîlâṅka the Bauddhas, Bârhaspatyas, and others are intended.

236:3 Grantha, passage in a book. The verses 2-5 are intended.

236:4 They are the Nâstikas or Kârvâkas.

236:5 In other words: the Atman is produced by the elements. But there is, it would seem, but one Atman, for in verses 11, 12, we have another heretical philosophy which acknowledged a plurality of transient âtmans.

237:1 This is the doctrine of the Vêdântins.

237:2 If there were but one âtman common to all men, the fruit of works done by one man might accrue to another. For the âtman is the substratum of merit and demerit.

237:3 Though there is no doubt about the meaning of this passage, still the construction is so elliptic that I may have failed to understand the connection of the parts of the sentence.

237:4 This is the opinion expressed by Karaka and in the early law-books, see Professor Jolly's paper in the Transactions of the Ninth International Congress of Orientalists, vol. i, p. 456. Sîlâṅka ascribes it to the Sâṅkhyas and Saivâdhikârins.

238:1 Niyatîbhâvam âgayâ. Niyatî is explained by nityabhâva.

238:2 Viz. the Bauddhas. The five skandhas are explained in the commentary as follows: 1. rûpaskandha, or substances and their qualities; 2. vêdanâskandha, feelings, as pleasure and pain; 3. vigñânaskandha, perceptions of the qualities of things; 4. samgñâskandha, perception and knowledge of things; 5. samskâraskandha, merit and demerit.

238:3 Identical, i.e. a product of the elements as the Kârvâkas maintain.

238:4 Gânaya, which is explained in the Dîpikâ by gñânaka = panditammanya, denotes the Bauddhas. I think that the word may be derived from yâna 'vehicle,' which the Buddhist used to designate the two sections of the church, viz. the Hînayâna and Mahâyâna schools. The commentator quotes a various reading: âvarê for gânayâ, and explains it as referring to another sect of Bauddhas than those spoken of in the preceding verse. Sîlâṅka comments on the reading avvarê first, and then on gânaya.

239:1 Kakravâla.