Article: The ‘Three Gems’

Definitions

Jain flag
Image by Jaume Ollé © CC BY-SA 3.0

The three jewels cover the central Jain principles.

Encompassing faith, knowledge and action, the concept embraces the different stages of progress towards liberation.

Each gem naturally leads to the next one, although the three elements are important at all spiritual levels.

Right faith

This crucial condition is the bedrock of being a member of the Jain faith. It requires that an individual accepts basic Jain beliefs, from which other principles flow. Samyag-darśana – ‘right faith’ – is defined as the:

firm conviction concerning the true nature of things

tattvārtha-śraddhānaṃ samyag-darśanam

Tattvārtha-sūtra, 1.2
translated by Folkert 1993: 115

This means recognising the existence of ‘that which is’ or ‘the fundamental verities’ (Sukhlalji 1974: 7 of the translation). These are the seven truths of Jainism – the tattvas – which are listed in the table.

To this list are sometimes added these two notions, which Wiley translated in 2004 (212) as:

• ‘auspicious varieties of karma’ – puṇya
• ‘inauspicious varieties of karma’ – pāpa.

Recognition of these realities is an act of faith and is a prerequisite for further spiritual progress. Until someone recognises these notions as truths, he or she is the prey of ‘wrong’ or ‘incorrect’ faith – mithyā-dr̥ṣṭi – or does not have right faith in its perfect form.

This may happen if the individual is subject to one of the possible transgressions – aticāras – of right faith. These are:

• doubt – śaṅkā – about one of the truths or the whole system
• desire or inclination towards other doctrines – kāṅkṣā
• hesitation ‘about the value of the results of various human activities’ (Williams 1963: 46) or feeling repelled by Jain ascetics – vicikitsā
• admiring other sectarian groups – para-pāṣaṇḍi-praśaṃsā
• overtly praising other sectarian groups – para-pāṣaṇḍi-saṃstava.

Whatever beliefs or practices are addressed to false divinities, ascetics or scriptures amount to wrong faith.

Right knowledge

Stages of knowledge
Image by Diwakar Prakashan / Padma Prakashan © Diwakar Prakashan / Padma Prakashan

Samyag-jñāna comes second in the triplet because it relates to the intellectual understanding of an object viewed in its details. Literally ‘correct knowledge’, it means grasping properly the fundamental truths. For instance, the individual first recognises that there are living beings and non-living beings. Appreciating that they are very different, the individual then knows what is what. In short, correct knowledge means properly understanding the Jain view of the world, in all its elements, including the Jain universe – cosmology – and Jain history as viewed by the tradition, which is known as Universal History.

‘Correct faith’ may or may not exist, but knowledge or cognition of one form or the other always exists in a soul (Sukhlalji 1974: 18). Knowledge is an innate quality of the soul, but it is obscured by karmas until an advanced stage of spirituality.

Jains believe there are five types of knowledge. This table, based on page 112 of Wiley 2004, summarises the types of knowledge – jñāna.

Types of knowledge – jñāna

	Name	Meaning	Types of beings that have it
1	mati-jñāna	sensory knowledge, coming from the five senses and the mind	All living beings, even those that have only one sense, that of touch
2	śruta-jñāna	verbal cognition, implying language in gestures or words, especially knowledge of ‘what has been heard’. This means the tradition as handed down by the Jinas or scriptural knowledge	Five-sensed beings with the ability to reason
3	avadhi-jñāna	extrasensory knowledge or clairvoyance	Beings that live in the heavens and hells are born with this but humans can gain it through specific practices
4	manaḥ-paryāya-jñāna	knowledge of other’s minds or telepathy	Human beings who are highly advanced spiritually
5	kevala-jñāna	omniscience or knowledge of everything everywhere, whether it relates to the past, present or future	Jinas

Right conduct

‘Five Great Vows’
Image by Shree Diwakar Prakashan © public domain

The final gem is samyak-cāritra. Once the essential truths are recognised and have been intellectually grasped, the time for action comes.

The notion of ‘right conduct’ relates to ethics and practice. It encompasses a large number of categories that define proper behaviour for Jain mendicants and lay people. Given the difference in their ways of life, it is to be expected that the prescriptions vary for these two groups.

Rules for mendicants

The table outlines the types of rules regulating the behaviour of mendicants.

As well as taking five ‘absolute vows’, Jain mendicants should follow the precautions and protections. These two sets of rules are meant to reinforce self-control and, therefore, the mendicantlowers the risks of harming living beings. The rules thus contribute to non-violence – ahiṃsā – which is the first, most important mahā-vrata. Primarily, respecting these prescriptions helps to prevent the influx of new karmas – āsrava-nirodha or saṃvara – in the soul, which greatly aids spiritual progress. Related categories for mendicants are the:

• 22 torments – parīṣahas – which they have to conquer
• 12 topics of concentration – anuprekṣās – they must master.

Rules for lay people

The behaviour of lay Jains can also be regulated. Even though a ‘perfect lay Jain’ follows far fewer rules than a ‘perfect ascetic‘, the lay vows are challenging. The lay vows amount to 12 and comprise the:

• five ‘minor vows’ – aṇu-vratas – which are based on the ‘great vows’ of the mendicants
• three guṇa-vratas
• four śikṣā-vratas.

Each of the vows is supplemented by the description of possible transgressions – aticāras.

Order of the three gems

When they define the triplet, Jain authors insist on a certain sequence of the terms, which obeys logic and rationality. The standard order of the ‘three gems’ follows a process of understanding and action.

This is clearly stated in the Uttarādhyayana-sūtra:

There is no (right) conduct without right belief, and it must be cultivated (for obtaining) right faith; righteousness and conduct originate together, or righteousness precedes (conduct). Without (right) faith there is no (right) knowledge, without (right) knowledge there is no virtuous conduct, without virtues there is no deliverance, and without deliverance there is no perfection

chapter 28, verse 29 to 30
translation by Hermann Jacobi, 1895: 156

Thus the first element of samyag-darśana – ‘right faith’ or ‘right perception’ – refers to the initial act of accepting the doctrine in general.

‘Right knowledge’ – samyag-jñāna – is the second stage, where the follower understands the details of the principles.

‘Right conduct’ – samyak-cāritra – comes last as it refers to whatever relates to practice and ethics. It presupposes knowledge of the principles. For instance, the knowledge of what life is and how many organisms it includes is necessary to observe the vow of non-violence in all its aspects.

Variations in the sequence may arise for metrical reasons if the list takes place in a verse, like the passage from the Yoga-śāstra quoted above. In this verse, Hemacandra uses the variant śraddhāna – ‘belief’ – instead of the standard term darśana.

Unity of the three gems

Fourteen guṇa-sthānas
Image by Shree Diwakar Prakashan © public domain

The three gems can be thought of as summarising the steps towards liberation from the cycle of rebirths. The first gem is the vital first stage of the difficult spiritual path from total delusion towards self-realisation. The other two jewels constitute fundamental notions in later spiritual development. All stages of spirituality are defined in the guṇa-sthāna – 14 stages of spiritual progression.

Jains have always believed that spiritual development is completed in stages. Emancipation of the soul, which is the ultimate aim of Jainism, means destroying all the types of karmas that defile it. The karmas are hindrances to the attainment of omniscience – kevala-jñāna – and to the fulfilment of bliss. Karma is controlled and destroyed at successive levels of spirituality. There are no shortcuts to liberation, which lies at the end of an extremely long and challenging path. Even the Jinas travel this route, though they do it considerably quicker than other people. Because the three jewels together summarise the path, Jain teachers insist on the necessary association of the three gems.

Liberation is reached through the 14 stages of spiritual progression – the guṇa-sthāna. For instance, at the first and lowest stage, the soul is in a state of wrong perception or belief – mithyā-dr̥ṣṭi. The third stage – samyag-mithyātva – charts the journey between wrong belief and right belief. Right belief definitely comes in the fourth stage, called samyag-dr̥ṣṭi. The path to right knowledge and right conduct is traced in the rest of the 14 steps of the ‘scale of perfection’.

At the 13th stage, both belief – samyag-darśana – and knowledge – samyag-jñāna – are in their perfect form, yet this is not the stage of liberation because perfect conduct is not reached in the penultimate level. Perfect conduct is reached in the 14th stage, whereupon liberation – mokṣa – can take place. In this context, samyak-cāritra means both dispassion and total absence of activity (Sukhlalji 1974: 3).

The famous 20th-century Jain saint and philosopher Rājacandra expresses in the Gujarati-language Ātma-siddhi – Self-Realisation – the itinerary of someone aspiring to the realisation of the soul:

If such aspirants to soul-realisation get wise (guidance) of a True teacher, they acquire Right Belief [samakita, the Gujarati form of samyaktva = samyag-darśana], and lead a life of internal purification. He[,] who giving up bias for (one’s particular) school of thought and religion, follows the precept of the True Teacher, gets pure Right Belief. In it there is neither distinction nor party (or partisanship). (He) lives in the nature of one’s own self, believes in the experience (of one’s own realisation), is continuously attentive to one’s own inner nature – (such are the marks of one who has the) highest Right Belief. This Right Belief increasing, removes false belief. Then rises right conduct (cāritra), and the soul abides in or attains the dignity or status of non-attachment. Living in the perfect knowledge of the full nature of one’s self, this is called Perfect Knowledge (kevala-jñāna). (This is attained in human body and though) the body is retained, there is Liberation.

Ātma-siddhi, 109–113
translation by J. L. Jaini 1923: 88–91

The 18th-century Digambara mystical poet Dyānatrāy, on the other hand, explains how the triple gem itself is reached:

The auspicious gems
are god, scripture and guru.
They create the triple gem
of faith, knowledge and conduct.

Cort 2003: 289

Conventional and absolute viewpoints

The triplet is thus the means to reach liberation. In the tradition of thought that distinguishes a ‘conventional’ viewpoint and an ‘absolute’ viewpoint for each notion, it is restricted to a means.

The conventional viewpoint – vyavahāra-naya – stresses religious practices as a central part of spiritual practice whereas the absolute viewpoint – niścaya-naya – focuses on realising the soul directly, without rituals. The Digambara philosopher Kundakunda is the first to express this point clearly:

From the conventional viewpoint, conduct, faith and knowledge are indicated [as attributes] of the knower [= the soul]. But [from the absolute viewpoint] there is neither knowledge, nor conduct nor faith; the [soul as] knower is pure.

Samayasāra 1.7
translation by Nalini Balbir

A commentator on this verse explains it through a comparison. He says that fire is always one and the same, yet burning, cooking and shining are mentioned as its properties, in relation to different purposes or external factors. In the case of a complex reality such as the soul, the teacher distinguishes between its different characteristics in order to make the student understand what it is (Chakravarti 1971: 17).

Thus the triplet, consisting of three components, is an empirical conception – a ‘conventional’ view – while in the transcendental or ‘absolute’ conception, the soul is ultimately pure consciousness (Jainendra Siddhānta Kośa volume 3: 389 under ratnatraya).