Harmless Souls

Harmless Souls considers doctrinal change and its implication for religious practice in early Jainism. It focuses on evolving views about the conditions necessary for karmic bondage and the liberation of embodied souls, as described in parts of the early Svetambara canon, Umasvati’s Tattvartha Sutra, and the major works of Kundakunda. Particular attention is paid to the roles that knowledge and self-realisation play on Kundakunda’s path to liberation. The strategies used to preserve ascetic discipline when to preserve ascetic discipline when faced by the challenge of this emphasis on gnosis are explored in the light of various interpretations of Kundakunda’s ‘two truths’ doctrine. It is concluded that, although significant doctrinal changes do take place, these are not permitted to affect Jaina practice, for it is just such ascetic practice which constitutes and preserves the distinctive religious and social identity of the Jaina community.