Preface
Today when I
have sat down to write the essence of Samaysar, I am scared. What kind of
Pandit do I take myself to be? As if I know everything about Samaysar? Have I
learnt enough to be able to teach others? I know very well that I am not some
kind of expert on samaysar. At time like this I recall the words of Pandit
Todarmalji which he wrote in the preface
to Moksha Marg Prakashak wherein he questions himself on the same grounds and
then answers by saying that just as a lamp can be used to light other lamps,
his objective is to enable others who do not know even that much what he knows.
Trouble is I cannot compare myself to Pandit Todarmalji either so my fears are
not answered. Then I take solace by saying that I might not be even a lamp to
illuminate the path and I might just be a glow worm but even that glow worm indicates
the existence of light in total darkness. For those who are noticing the
existence of darkness all around them in the subject of spirituality in current
times, this effort of mine may serve to indicate that presence of light which
they may not have seen at all in their life. Even that may serve them quite
beneficially so that they may recognise the characteristics of light when they
see it. Thus it would be easier for them to recognise illumination and follow
its path. With such encouraging words to myself I proceed to make my attempt.
The readers are also advised to ignore my mistakes in the same spirit and
filter the real essence of this attempt for their own benefit. The main reason
why I venture to write today is based upon my own experience quite some time
back. Although I was quite proficient in Hindi ( so I thought) but when I came
across Samaysar and tried to read it, I could not make head or tail out of it.
The language was entirely different from the Hindi that I knew and words like
dravya-guna-paryaya or utpad-vyavya-dhrovya did not make any sense. Although
there is much better support available today thanks to information technology
for people to understand the subject, but one of the biggest problem in the
quest of knowledge is the language. While there is no dearth of books in Hindi
explaining the spirituality, there is a
certain lack of them in English. Hence my objective in this effort is to make a
layman familiar with the subject of Samaysar who wishes to learn but unable to
do so because of the ferocious words which they encounter and give up. I hope
to simplify as much as I can. How much I will be able to succeed remains to be
seen. In any case I know that I shall be a beneficiary since in this process I
would also learn.
In the last
fifty years, a definite revolution has taken place in the way Jains have
been practicing Jainism. Today Jains are
familiar with the name of Samaysar even though they may not have read it. A
significant percentage may be reading and following it also. Prior to this one
could have hardly heard the name of Samaysar from Jains leave apart
familiarity. The overall emphasis was more on bhakti and fasting. The credit to
this revolutionary change in unequivocal terms can be given to Shri Kanji Swamy
who single handedly changed the outlook of Jains from mere bhakti to
spirituality. It was definitely a most fortunate moment when Samaysar came to
his hands which changed his outlook completely. Not only did he practice it in his life style, he preached it
continuously for over 40 years, to those who were willing to listen. No doubt
this laid the seeds of spirituality in the generations to follow. Whatever
little I have understood of Samaysar can be attributed to him, thanks to
enormous amount of literature generated by his followers to assist others. Therefore
with deep gratitude I offer my obeisance to him for illuminating the path so
clearly.
The main
reason why people find it difficult to
understand Samaysar is that in spite of
being in Hindi, there are considerable number of words which are not common in
vocabulary of daily use. Such words are part of the subject of spirituality of
Jainism and cannot be dispensed with. We cannot translate each into an English
equivalent. Just for example the term Moksha is commonly used implying salvation.
But really speaking there is no English equivalent of it since Moksha does not
exist in Western philosophy. The Moksha as known by Jains is unknown in the
western world and in fact even in India since the definitions of salvation in
Indian philosophies differ widely. The Moksha of Jains is not the same as that
of Buddhists wherein there is no soul in salvation hence the implications are
different. Hence for those desirous of learning Samaysar and other Jain
scriptures, it is necessary to get used to Jain terminology and develop the
vocabulary using Jain terms. Here in writing this paper, I have tried to
explain such terms as far as possible
and then continued to use them
since there is no alternative.
Samaysar was
incarnated somewhere around 49 A.D. from the pen of Acharya Kund Kund. The word
incarnated is deliberately used here to
represent the appearance of Samaysar in scripture form. Acharya Amrit Chandra
who wrote commentary on Samaysar himself starts Samaysar by saying that now the
Sutra is incarnated. This is to highlight the fact that Samaysar in spirit form was
existent since the time of Mahaveer Bhagwan as part of his divine sermon. The
manifestation into script form happened with the nimitta of Acharya Kund Kund
in 49th A.D.. The word Sutra also has considerable importance.
Consider the period 2000 years back when there were no paper nor pens. Further
Munis had very limited time or resources to indulge in writing. The words used
to be engraved on dried palm leaf serving as paper. Naturally one did not use
too many words. Sutras represent those sentences wherein the letters were
deliberately minimized. Thus Acharya Kund Kund wrote Samaysar in 415 Gatha
sutras in Prakrit language which was the common language of conversation of
those times.
Ancestral Lineage of Samaysar: More than 2500 years back Bhagwan Mahaveer gave the divine sermon of the Jin Dharma which was converted in to scripture of twelve Ang ( Dwadashang) comprising of entire sruta gyan (scriptural knowledge). However in about 500 years most of it was lost since there were no means for writing and very little remained in oral form. At this stage the first efforts for protecting the remaining knowledge into written scriptural form were carried out. One was by Acharya Dharsen who had knowledge of Maha Karma Prakriti named fourth Prabhrat of 5th Vastu of Agrayani Poorva which itself is second of the fourteen poorvas. The poorvas form the fourth Adhikar of the five Adhikars of the twelfth Drishtivad Ang of Dwadashang scripture. The second scripture was part of the fifth Gyanapravad poorva of Drishtivad Ang, whose 3rd Prabhrat of 10th Vastu was known to Gunabhadracharya. These two chains of scripture are termed two Sruta Skandhs. Of the second sruta skandh stream the Samay Prabhrat was known to Kundakundacharya who wrote several books e.g. Samaysar, Pravchansar, Niyamsar, Panchastikaya, Ashtapahud etc. From the first stream of sruta skandh the Shatkhandagam, Dhavala etc. form scriptures were generated. From the second stream the Kashyay Pahud, Samaysar etc. scriptures are produced. Thus the lineage of the Samaysar is traced to the Dwashang scripture. In fact KundKundacharya starts Samaysar by stating that he will now incarnate the Samaysar which has been stated by Sruta Kevalis in his very first Gatha. Thus he himself does not take any credit for it, which is the most admirable attitude of the Jain Acharyas wherein they do not tell anything about themselves and all the credit is passed on to Bhagwan Mahaveer only.
About 900
years after Acharya Kund Kund
Amritchandracharya wrote the Sanskrit commentary on Samaysar which
included 278 kalash shlokas. These kalash are meant as offerings to adorn the
Gathas of Samaysar. In the words of Shri Kanji Swamy, Amritchandracharya
functioned as Ganadhar who understood the sermon of Kund Kundacharya who
himself was equivalent to Bhagwan Mahaveer
and translated into words his intent beautifully. Another commentary was
written by Acharya Jayasen 200 years later which also added to the glory of
Samaysar. Although many people have written subsequent commentaries but the
most notable of them is by Pandit Jaychandraji Chhabra which was written in 18th
century in Hindi language. In the last 50 years or so, Samaysar has been well
publicised and commented upon thanks to elaborate pravachans of Shri Kanji Swamy.
The word
‘Samaysar’ implies the words Samaya + Saar
wherein the first word samaya stands for soul and saar implies the
essence which is free of impurity. Thus Samaysar is pure soul substance which
is the goal of life of any Mumukshu ( person desirous of attaining Moksha).
Here we do not talk of enjoyments of life nor riches or pleasures since all
those are momentary sensual pleasures. The only real objective of life is
Moksha which denotes eternal bliss and knowledge for the soul. That Moksha is
attained when soul gets purified totally shedding all the impurities of karmas.
That pure state is called Samaysar which is the apt title for this scripture.
Organisation of Samaysar : Samaysar has been written in
the form of Nine Adhikars ( 9 chapters) preceded by Poorva Rang chapter
which could be aptly termed as Abstract for the Samaysar. Kundkundacharya had
visualised Samaysar as a drama which is unfolded in front of the audience
wherein different characters based upon the life of Jiva, the mundane being perform. According to the roles being enacted
the corresponding kind of bhavas are generated demonstrating the influence of
karmas on the psychic of the jiva. These chapters denote those phases in the
life of the jiva which are produced when he attains knowledge of self and
progresses to get rid of karmas by means of the jewel trio of right belief-
right knowledge- right conduct.
Before one
proceeds to read Samaysar, it is important to know the Tatvas ( elements) as
described by Jain philosophy. There are seven Tatvas namely Jiva, Ajiva,
Asrava, bandha, samvar, nirjara, Moksha. By true nature Jiva is pure but in
worldly state he is transmigrating in four types of Gatis (births) namely
Narak, Manushya, Tiryanch and Deva. Since eternal times he is influenced by
Mithyatva karma due to which he is deluded and treats his body as soul without
recognising his own nature. Eight types of karmas accompany him and influence
him in different manner. These are Mithyatva, Gyanavaraniya, Darshanavaraniya,
Antaraya, Ayu, Gotra, Naam and Vedaniya. The first four are called Ghatiya
karmas since they influence the qualities of Jiva like knowledge, vision,
belief, strength etc. The other four are aghatiya which influence the kind of
body he possesses and provide for his happiness or unhappiness etc. So long as
the jiva is deluded with Mithyatva he cannot progress on the path of
salvation in spite of having knowledge
of things or powerful body etc. Only when he realises the nature of reality,
his Mithyatva is overcome then he is said to be Samyak Drishti (having right
belief) and he has experienced the true nature of soul. Then only his journey
on the path of Moksha begins which is the ultimate goal of a jiva i.e. to
attain the true natural state which is Siddhahood. The seven tatvas represent
the different states of the Jiva which
he undergoes under the influence of karmas. Without differentiating knowledge
between self and Ajiva i.e. pudgala (matter) he believes body to be self. His
ignorance and delusion causes the influx of karma particles which attach
themselves to his soul state. This is known as Asrava. The bondage of karmas is
described as Bandh. When the Jiva has realised his true nature and attempts
harder to experience his soul and remove the bondage of karmas, the process of
stoppage of influx of karmas is called Samvar. With the practice of penances
the Jiva can shed his karmas which is called Nirjara. Finally with removal of
all the karmas the Jiva attains Moksha the state of keval gyan and keval
darshan. This describes the seven tatvas very briefly. Now the same are also described
as nine Padarths wherein the punya-pap are added. Actually they are just
elaboration of bandh into its constituents.
Now with
this background, the chapters of Samyasar can be briefly examined as follows:
1) Poorva Rang – In
this abstract of Samaysar, Acharya announces his intention of describing
true nature of soul which the Jiva has never known nor experienced. In fact he
directly plunges into description of soul without any further ado. In a sense
this abstract gives gist of Samaysar for those who do not want to read more.
Another important thing in this abstract is the identification of tools of
understanding. Jain dharma is of the nature of Anekant wherein a thing is multifaceted. While a jiva
is really a soul which is non corporeal and sentient, in worldly state he is
having body and is father, brother, son etc. These are differentiated by means
of the language of Naya (aspect). The Jiva is called pure soul from aspect of
Nishchaya naya (real sense) while he may be described as Manushya (human) from
aspect of Vyavahara naya (practical sense). The Poorva rang chapter focuses on
this aspect in some detail to lay down the language that shall be used to
describe the jiva. This language is known as syadvad which is unique to Jainism
and very essential for right understanding of the dharma. In fact all other
religions suffer from flaw of Ekant ( singularity) due to this shortcoming. (
It is advised to read this subject in some detail before attempting Samaysar.
One of the books recommended for this purpose is Moksha Marg Prakashak).
2) Jiva-Ajiva Adhikar- As the name suggests this chapter describes the relationship
between Jiva and Ajiva which are generated out of ignorance of jiva. Only with
differentiating knowledge can one overcome this delusion.
3) Karta-Karma Adhikar- Although karta and karma do not form
part of seven tatvas or nine pardarth, Acharya has included this chapter to
resolve the ignorance of jiva. He believes himself to be doer of things and
deeds as his karma. Acharya demolishes
this relationship altogether telling that jiva is doer of his own bhavas only
and nothing else. That bhava only is his karma. The bhava of gyani is of the
form of knowledge only while bhava of agyani is of the form of ignorance only.
4) Punya-Pap Adhikar- This chapter demolishes another
common delusion of Jiva. They believe that punya leads to moksha while pap
leads to transmigration in four gatis. Acharya describe them as shackles of
gold or iron but nevertheless they are shackles which bind the jiva. Only those
who realise them as one can progress on the path of Moksha.
5) Asrava Adhikar- After removing basic ignorance, now
Acharya progresses to describe the form of Asrava, its constituents and its
effect on the nature of jiva.
6) Samvar Adhikar- Prevention of Asrava only is samvar
which begins with the differentiating knowledge and progresses by the efforts
made by Jiva to remain within his own nature. Thus the meditation process leads
to samvar.
7) Nirjara Adhikar- The process of enhancing the purity of jiva is Nirjara. Once
the jiva is detached from the sensual subjects and pleasures, his karmas on
fruition do not bond with new karmas and even previously bonded karmas can be
made to fructify earlier with weaker intensity. In this way karmas are made to
shed.
8) Bandh Adhikar- In this chapter Acharya again demolishes
the misconceptions of jiva towards others. One may think that he can harm or
protect someone else but in reality he can do neither. The other suffers the
consequences of his own karmas. The disposition of one with respect to others
or things is the cause to bondage and not actually the deed.
9) Moksha Adhikar- The ragas(desires) and the nature of soul have a bondage which can be penetrated by means of a chisel
of knowledge. Therefore knowledge is the only tool for purification of soul.
Even indulgence in penances can be harmful since one may get deviated from the
real objective. Hence the objective is remaining immersed within the self by
knowing the self.
10) Sarva Vishuddha Gyan Adhikar- With the elimination of all karmas
the pure knowledge appears like the purified gold. This chapter specifically
deals with conclusion of the journey of the jiva. Further the flaws of other
philosophies are highlighted to remove the doubts the reader may have regarding
the form of reality. Similarly it is also made clear that adoption of dravya
ling ( nakedness) alone is not Moksha, it is the oneness which one needs to
renunciate with respect to body.
In this way
the overview above provided a brief glimpse of the contents of various chapters
of Samaysar. With this preparation now we can proceed towards a little more
deeper study of Samaysar. One more thing. In this composition, I have not
differentiated between gathas of Kundakundacharya, commentary by
Amritchandracharya or Bhavartha (meaning) written by Pandit Jaichandraji
Chhabra. Which means that while describing essence of a specific gatha, the
most suitable connotation is provided taken from the gatha, commentary or the meaning. No translation has been attempted
here. In any case all gathas are referred here which enables the reader to know
where he is at a given moment and correlate it with the text books. I hope that
in this mode, it would enable readers to get a quick feeling of the subject and
they could enrich it further by studying other books.
Continued……
Very nice effort by you, sir
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