E D U C AT I O N
Are Body and Soul Separate?
Compiled by: Raj Kumar Jain; Editor, Education Section (Sources: www.nirgranth.in, http://jainliterature.weebly.com)
[Many of the world religions believe in the existence of the Soul. However, many of us may wonder if the soul and the body are separate entities or not. In other words when the body dies, does the soul also die? In the story below, Muni Keshikumar explains to King Pradeshi how body and soul are separate.]
One of the Jain doctrines, Nandi Sutra contains the description of eleven Anga Agams and twelve Upanga Agams. Amongst them, Rai-paseniya Sutra is the Upanga of the second Anga Agam namely Sutrakritanga. It is the second Upanga relating this Agam to Sutrakritanga. Sutrakritanga mentions three hundred and sixty three different philosophies namely Kriyavadi, Akriyavadi, Ajnanvadi, Vinayavadi. Based on Akriyavadi(non action of the soul) philosophy, the philosophical beliefs of King Pradeshi have been presented and Muni Keshikumar Shraman had provided the logical refutation of all such beliefs. The primary description in this Sutra is that of King Pradeshi. King Pradeshi was a staunch believer in oneness of soul and body from the time period belonging to Lord Parshvanath’s (23rd Tirthankara) ascetic order. He was extremely cruel, merciless and contemptuous towards religion by temperament. King Pradeshi was irreligious, highly sinful, preaching sin, was following sinful ways, and always preferring sin to piety.
It all started one fine morning, when Chitra, the chariot driver, brought King Pradeshi to where monk, Muni Keshikumar was giving a sermon; The king sat down and asked Muni Keshikumar, King Pradeshi: “O sage! Do you believe that body and soul are separate?”
Muni Keshikumar: “O king! It is not just that I believe - it is, indeed a fact. Soul is not destroyed when the body is destroyed. Soul is immortal where the body is not.” King Pradeshi: “If soul is immortal do you mean that my grandfather, who like me, loved violence must have gone to hell after his death? Muni Keshikumar: “Yes! Those who commit violence go only to hell.”
King Pradeshi: “But he never came back to tell me –“Son, I suffer the bitter fruits of violence. Therefore, you should not indulge in violence.” Had he said that to me, I would have accepted your doctrine.” Muni Keshikumar: “O king! Consider this, there is some great criminal and you have caught him after great effort. You sentence him to death, he requests you to leave for some time so that he could go and tell his family members to avoid the crimes that he had committed. Would you allow him to leave?” King Pradeshi: “Not at all, such a criminal cannot be allowed to go.”
Muni Keshikumar: “When the sinner goes to hell, the guardians of hell torture him gravely. They do not allow him to go anywhere even for a moment.” So, how would your grandfather be allowed to come out and warn you? King Pradeshi: “O sage! By an experiment I have proved that within the body there is nothing like a soul. I passed death sentences for a thief. I put him alive in an iron box, closed it and sealed all passages of air with clay. A few days later I got the box opened. The thief was dead, I found no hole in it. Tell me from where the soul escaped? This proves that when body is dead, the soul is destroyed. Thus the two are one and the same.”
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