जैन अध्यात्म योग का महत्त्वपूर्ण ग्रन्थ : मोक्षपाहुड

Summary

The article discusses the significance of the Jain spiritual text "Mokshapahud" (Mokṣapāhuḍa), composed by the first-century CE Jain acharya Kundakunda. It emphasizes that meditation and yoga form the foundational basis of Jain spiritual practice, supported by archaeological evidence showing ancient Tirthankara statues exclusively in meditative postures like padmasana and kayotsarga. The text "Mokshapahud" is one of the eight "Pahud" (gifts) texts by Kundakunda, intended as a spiritual offering to guide yogis toward liberation. The term "adhyatma yoga" (spiritual yoga) is used, focusing solely on the pure self. The text contains 106 verses directly addressing yogis, using terms like "yoga," "yogi," and "dhyana." Dr. Hiralal Jain suggested the text could be called "Yogapahud" due to its emphasis on yoga. Key teachings include that a yogi abandons false belief, ignorance, sin, and merit through threefold yoga of mind, speech, and body, and attains meditative absorption through the vow of silence. A verse explains the yogi's silence: the form seen does not know, and the knower is not seen, so there is no one to speak with. Another verse describes a yogi as one who sleeps in worldly affairs but is awake in self-work, while one awake in worldly affairs sleeps in self-work. The text states that a yogi devoted to deities and gurus, affectionate toward co-religionists, and upholding right faith becomes absorbed in meditation. It also teaches that as long as one delights in sense objects, the self is not known; only a yogi with a mind detached from sense objects knows the self. The article concludes that Kundakunda is regarded as the establisher of Jain yoga in the acharya tradition.