CONTENTS
More on Jainism
Vedantism
The Puranas
Past dialogue on Hinduism
More on Hinduism
The Caste System

Live Discussion Forum
Do all paths lead to God
Past dialogues a must read!
Atheism
Natural Laws
News Science
The great debate
FAQ
Links
Jainism
Being Indian abroad
Nathuram Godse
Real Hinduism
The Hindu Universe
Anwar Shaikh
Idolatary-not true worship
Hindu holocaust/Muslims
Atheism in India
Atheism in Hinduism
Bharat Mata (India)
Hindu Culture
Hindu history.
Saints or Traitors
Myth:Aryan invasion
The Tajmahal
Future evolution of man
Forbidden Archaelogy
Beyond the Indus Valley
New science paradigms
Contact me
Search Contents
Home
A COWARD'S CONCEPT OF NON-VIOLENCE
JAINISM
Source of idol-worship
"Is it possible that any moral man can tolerate the supremely disgusting and insufferable stuff to be found, for instance, in the Linga Purana? The feats of the Linga, though heroic(!) indeed, are a record of shame and a tale of utter indecency and obscenity. Do such books teach religion? If the reply be in the affirmative, then I say that they teach religions which can only debase the people." Swami Virjanand
The Jains believe that the soul on attaining salvation becomes God. Their six Gods are, Omniscient, free from passions of love, worthy of homage, sanctified, and victorious. Since they do not perceive one at the present time there is no Omniscient, Eternal God demonstrable by ocular evidence. In absence of ocular proof, there can be no inferential evidence because the inferential proof of an object can only be available after direct perception of a part of it.

The answer to the above is simple. Perception by only the senses is limited, as color cannot be perceived by the ears or sound by the eyes. In the same manner, God cannot be perceived by the senses. He can only be realized by the blissful state of the soul through the purity of the heart which is acquired through the practice of Yoga.

No one can enjoy the benefit of knowledge until it is acquired, likewise no one can realize or see the Supreme Being without practicing of Yoga and gaining the highest knowledge.

The earth is cognizable by observing its properties, such as form, which are inseparably related to it. Similarly, we become directly cognizant of God by observing the wonderful design of His world. In the same way, we are inclined to commit sin, feelings of fear, shame and hesitation. These feelings are guided by the Supreme Being as a warning to us and thus, we become cognizant of His presence.

A short discussion of the Jain religion.(see Chapter 12)

They believe that nothing in this world happens as the result of the will of God but as the results of deeds.

If everything is the result of deeds, who then is the doer? If the doer is the soul the next question is, who created the organs ears, mouth and eyes with which the soul does the deeds? The answer cannot be that it is eternal, for what is beginningless cannot die. If there were no God, who is the giver of fruits of the soul's action? No soul will ever, of its own free will, suffer punishment for its own sins. Criminals do not voluntarily punish themselves for their crimes; it is the law that compels them to do so.

Likewise, it is a superior force that is needed to award the soul the fruits of its actions good or bad. If this is not so, then there will be total chaos, a total absence of law and order. There will be a lot of injustices as one soul will commit deeds and another will suffer the consequences.

God is inactive because if He did any deeds He would suffer the consequences. So believe in the perfect beings who have attained salvation and are actionless.

God is always active because He is the Conscious Supreme Being. The soul at the present time does acts, virtuous and sinful, and reaps the fruits of it, pleasure and pain, but God does not. His activity is the creation, sustenance and dissolution. He would not be able to create this world if was inactive.

If the belief is that acts to be beginningless but perishable, like that kind of non-existence, which did not exist before it came into being, they will not stand in intimate, inseparable relation to the soul. Since they are the cause, they will be the result of union and thus perishable.

Why did God give up the bliss of emancipation and bother Himself with the creation, sustenance and dissolution of the universe?

God is ever-free and Eternal. He is never in bondage before emancipation. He possesses an infinite nature, infinite powers, infinite attributes, infinite activity and does not become subject to bondage. It is the circumscribed soul that becomes the subject of bondage and emancipation. Bondage has reference to emancipation and emancipation to bondage. How then could emancipation be predicted of Him, if he was never in bondage?

The soul can reap the fruits of its deeds without the instrumentality of a higher power, even as drugs inebriates a man without any extrinsic aid.

God justly awards the souls for its sins in accordance with the laws ordained by Him because no soul will willingly suffer its own consequences. As fair justice is dispensed by a king or a ruler, the same is necessary for an established universe.

There is not one God in the universe, for all emancipated souls become God.

A soul is not free by nature and if it was, it would never choose to be in bondage. Emancipation was acquired through finite actions, thus it comes to an end and the soul is subjected to bondage again. Besides it if there are many gods there will definitely be quarrels among them as it is among mankind.

If God be held the Maker of the universe, who is His maker?

There can be no maker of the first maker, the cause of the first cause. It is only because the first Maker or the First Cause exists that an effect (the world), comes into being. That of which combination (with others) or separation cannot be predicted and which is the cause of the first and which is the cause of the first combination or disintegration can never have another maker or cause.

The belief that because each object of the world is distinct from all other objects and cannot be classified with any other objects, possesses the power of producing an effect, of being transformed into its causal forms. But because there is an endless number of objects in the world, the number of forms will be infinite, and the power residing in objects will also be infinite betrays the irrationalities of the Jain religion.

.An atom cannot contain endless unclassified formations when it has limits. Therefore, it is childish to believe that an object can possess endless formations in its attributes, because when space has limits how can its contents be endless.

"What possesses consciousness is the soul and that which is devoid of it is dead inert matter. Good and righteous atoms constitute virtue, and evil atoms constitute vice." Jindatasuri.

The soul and inert matter have, of course, been rightly defined, but it is wrong to say that the inert atoms are righteous or vicious. The power of doing right and wrong can exist only in a conscious entity. All inert substances are incapable of doing good or bad deeds.

The doctrine of the immortality of the human spirit is sound. But it is foolish to believe that the human soul, whose capacities are limited, can when emancipated, attain to a state of omniscience, for whatsoever is finite can never attain infinite power.

The authority of the Jains' beliefs with regard to the universe is showed in their scriptural aphorisms as follows:-

"This world has no beginning nor an end. Neither it was ever created, nor will it ever perish; in other words, this world has never been created by anyone." Ratnasara, Part 2:60, 2

When their scriptures were written they seemed to be ignorant of the sciences of Anatomy, Geography, Astronomy. As a consequence, their accounts of these sciences were very irrational.

Insects, fish and animals were huge and giant-like and live a very long time, according to their Ratna-sarabhaga (page 160). For instance, Scorpions were 8 miles long and elephants were between 2 to 9 miles long and live 84,000 years. The size of our planet is larger than it is, and there are more oceans, islands and continents. Naturally, it had to be that huge if man, vegetation and creatures were all giants. Even their 24 preceptors were giants and live for thousands of years.

"The Jains are strictly prohibited to praise a person belonging to another religion or to talk of his good qualities, to salute him, to talk to him, to talk to him frequently, to bestow upon him food and clothes, and to supply odoriferous substances and flowers to enable him to worship his idol." Vivekasar (P. 121)

This kind of malice, hatred and hostility might not be noticeable today, but is in their scriptures and was very blatantly practiced up to a century ago. In the same book (page 108) it is written that the Jains murdered Namuchi, the prime minister of the then king of Mathura. They thought him to be their enemy and the murderers were purified by the performance of penance. Was this not an act calculated to destroy all feelings of mercy and forgiveness?

Jains believe that firm and perfectly sincere faith in what their scriptures teach about the soul and other entities. Love for the Jain religion constitutes true faith and good company. "One must believe in those entities in which Jain believed and in no others." The wise call a full or a superficial knowledge of the entities believed in by Jain, a knowledge of them as they really exist, "correct knowledge."

Good conduct is the renouncing of all connection with other religions, which deserved to be denounced. There are five obligatory duties; abstention from killing any sentient creature, courteous in speech, abstention from encroaching upon the rights of others, thorough control of the sexual impulses and renunciation.

Most of the above injunctions, such as those relating to abstention from killing and to the giving up of theft and other evil practices are sound. But the behest enjoining hatred and denunciation of other religions are likely to mar the wholesome effect of these sound teachings.

"Just as a ruby, which is embedded in the head of a venomous snake, should not be sought after, even so, it behooves the Jainees to shun the company of a non-Jainee, no matter how virtuous and learned he is." Prakaran Ratnakar, Part 2:18.
"Let not the Jainees even look at those that are opposed to the Jain religion."
"All religions that are opposed to the Jain faith lead mankind to sin. It is, therefore, best to shun all other faiths and to believe in the Jain religion only." Prakaran Ratnakar, Part 2:2,67

This kind of negativism is rampant in the sacred scriptures of the Jains and were always kept hidden from the members of the opposing faiths and to most of their present devotees. Like other declining doctrines that have to face the onslaught of modern science and logic. The Jains are compelled to let their erratic teachings stay hidden.

There are only three good points in the Jain religion :-

  1. Drinking filtered or boiled water.
  2. Showing mercy to tiny creatures
  3. Abstaining from food at night time.

All the rest of their teachings are absurd and mythological to an incredible extent. To discuss all that their scriptures that have been written will entail horrendous time and energy. The few verses I have written is enough to convince any rational individual of the irrationality that exists in such a religion.

"History tells that societies based on adoration of persons fall prey to mental thraldom which leads to moral, intellectual as well as spiritual emasculation." Vedic Light
Back to top of page