Did the Buddha practice asceticism prior to his awakening? A critical analysis of the Māhasīhanāda Sutta from the Majjhima Nikāya: It is widely believed, that the Buddha practiced the most radical forms of asceticism and self‑mortification prior to his awakening. A critical analysis of the suttas depicting that crucial period of his life shows, however, that the only text which portrays the bodhisatta as a foremost ascetic is the Māhasīhanāda Sutta (MN 12/I, 68). The aim of this paper is to examine the issue of the authenticity of this text and thus to answer the question as to whether there is enough ground to claim that the Buddha was an ascetic at all. Through a comparative analysis, I show that the structure and content of the Māhasīhanāda Sutta cannot be reconciled with other suttas from the Majjhima Nikāya, which describe the bodhisatta’s path to awakening. I point out certain late features of the Māhasīhanāda Sutta. Then, through a comparative analysis I try to show that some parts of the Buddhist text may have been borrowed from the Jain yāraṃga Sutta. Next, I attempt to reinterpret the term attakilamathānuyogo from the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta in such a way which will not pertain to asceticism. In the final part of the paper, I try to explain how the view that the Buddha was a foremost ascetic prior to his awakening could have arisen.
The aim of the article is to analyse Prabhācandra’s treatise in Sanskrit entitled Prameya-kamala-mārtaṇḍa [PKM] 1.3. and 1.10, one of the main Jain philosophical texts (11th c. CE), in order to investigate the author’s view on the relationship between sensory and verbal cognition. Prabhācandra refers to the thought of Bhartṛhari (5th c. CE), pioneer of the Indian philosophy of language, who formulated his original vision of the role of language in cognitive processes, as well as to the proponents of monistic standpoint, who are considered to be his followers. The translation and interpretation of PKM’s passages are crucial to finding an answer to the following questions: is the language for Prabhācandra necessary to make cognition complete or are there any intersection spheres of these two kinds of cognition?
PL
Celem artykułu jest analiza sanskryckiego traktatu Prabhaczandry, zatytułowanego Prameja-kamala-martanda [PKM] 1.3. i 1.10., jednego z głównych filozoficznych tekstów dżinijskich (XI w.), w celu zbadania stanowiska autora w kwestii relacji pomiędzy poznaniem zmysłowym i językowym. Prabhaczandra odwołuje się do myśli Bhartryhariego (V w.), pioniera w dziedzinie indyjskiej filozofii języka, który zaprezentował oryginalną wizję roli języka w procesach poznawczych, a także do monistów, którzy uważani są za jego następców. Tłumaczenie i interpretacja fragmentów PKM są kluczowe dla znalezienia odpowiedzi na następujące pytanie: Czy język jest dla Prabhaczandry niezbędny dla pełni poznania? Oraz: Czy istnieją jakieś punkty, w których obie sfery się przecinają?
The article is aimed at analysis of 9–24 stanzas of XXI chapter of philosophical poem Laghu-tattva-sphoṭa, i.e. A Light Bursting of the Reality, authored by Amṛtachandra-sūri (10th c. A.D.), the Jain thinker. Chapter XXI is dedicated to the problem of universals and particulars, meaningful and influential subject of Indian, as well as Western philosophy.
Socially imprinted death is a concept introduced by Marcel Mauss and related to many different phenomena, one of which is the ritual death by fasting still present in contemporary Jainism. Sallekhana is a traditional ritual once performed by chiefs, kings, brave warriors and holy monks, and is therefore linked to bravery, strength, salvation, and makes the person who performs it a hero. On the other hand, by the letter of the law sallekhana is merely suicide, extreme violence against the self, and as it requires the professional guidance of a monk and is performed mostly by elderly people it is often seen as an act of euthanasia. Both of these acts are forbidden by Indian law and should be perceived as something far from heroic. This article explains various layers of the paradox of sallekhana, as a phenomenon having opposite meanings at the same time – like being violent and being against all violence, and dealing with many obstacles when it comes to social practice. It also investigates several ways such a death is embedded in and accepted by both the society and religion, and how it interprets and pushes to its limits the general rules and the complex ideology of Jainism.
The article is aimed at juxtaposition of two Jaina thinkers’ concepts related to the status of living beings mired with delusion, i.e. Kundakunda’s (2nd c. CE) and Amṛtachandra-sūri’s (10th c. CE) perspective according to Samaya-sāra of the former and Puruṣârtha-siddhy-upāya of the latter. According to the Jaina philosophy an individual soul (jīva) attains respective stages of spiritual development traversing the whole scope spread between mithyātva (“falsity”) and samyaktva (“perfection”) tiers. Each state is strictly connected with the level of immersion in saṃsāra. These levels of spiritual development are a result of deluding karmas (mohanīya karma). The factor joining a cycle of births and concrete living entity is a karmic matter of subtle conformation glueing itself and cohering to a being. The article is focused on presenting types of delusion and its causing factors on the basis of two temporarily distant but contentwise compatibile works.
The article “Language Dynamics in the case of an Omniscient” is the study of the idea of an omniscient person on the basis of the classical Jain literature (5th–10th c. CE) in the context of language materiality, human activity and entanglement of a person into karmic bondage.
The aim of this article is to describe the concept of language materiality in the Jain philosophy, focusing on the literature of classical period (5th- 10th c. CE). I concentrate on the following texts: Viyāhapannatti, Ālāpapaddhati, Tattvârtha-sūtra, Tattvârthasūtra-rājavārttika etc. I take into account diverse questions such as: multidimensionality of reality, attendance of matter, the theory of molecules (vargaṇās) and the problem of matter modifications (pariṇāma).
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