5. Discussion of Jaiminiya doctrines

Somadeva refers to the Jaiminiyas or the followers of Jaimini, who declare that the mind is by nature impure like charcoal and collyrium, and can never be purified. This opinion is expressed also by Dhumadhvaja in the episode of Candakarman and Sudatta, and he deduces from it a sensualist conception of life. He maintains that just as charcoal, though rubbed, never becomes white, similarly the mind, impure by nature, never becomes pure. Further, there is no heaven in the guise of another world for which it is worth while to perform religious austerities; the real heaven is the ardent mutual love of a maiden of twelve and a youth of sixteen! Dhumadhvaja goes on to ridicule those who forsake the pleasures of the senses and strive for pain rather than pleasure. The opinions of Dhumadhvaja are controverted by Sudatta. If the mind or the inner faculty is impure, why does Kumarila in offering salutation to Siva describe him as being composed of pure knowledge? Sudatta then cites a verse which declares the existence of the eternal soul: it is interwoven with all things, yet not in contact with anything, and its nature is ever pure as the sky. katham cedam vacanamajaryam- samastesu vastusvanusyutamekam samastani vastuni yanna sprsanti | vidvat sada suddhimadyatsvarupam sa siddhopalabdhih sa nityo'hamatma || P. 254 The sage concludes by saying that just as a gem tarnished by impurities can be cleansed with effort, and ore turned into gold by a process of manufacture, similarly the Self can be liberated from passion by those who are well-meaning and resort to the canon of the Arhats."

2 'angaranjanadivat svabhavadeva kalusyotkarsapravrttasya cittasya na kutascidvisuddhacittavrttih iti jaiminiyah | ' 3 ghrsyamano yathangarah sukrtam naiti jatucit | visudhyati kutascittam nisargamalinam tatha | P. 250. 4 'na caparamisastavisah samartho'sti yadartho'yam tapahprayasah saphalayasah syat | yatah dvadasavarsa yosa sodasa- varsocitasthitih purusah | pritih parasparamanayoh svargah smrtah sadbhih || ' P. 251. 5 'dhrsyamanangaravadantarangasya visuddhyabhave kathamidamudahari kumarilena - visuddhajnanadehaya namah somardha- dharine || ' See Chapter XVIII. 6 malakalusatayatam ratnam visudhyati yattrato bhavati kanakam tatpasano yatha ca krtakriyah | kusalamatibhih kaisciddhanyaistathaptana- yasritairayamapi galatklesabhogah kriyeta parah puman || P. 254.

The Jaiminiya doctrine is criticised also in VI. 1. Somadeva says that removal of impurities involves transformation of character, and this can be brought about through the operation of the appropriate causes as in the case of gems and pearls.1

1 svabhavantarasambhutiryatra tatra malaksayah | kartum sakyah svahetubhyo manimuktaphalesviva || P. 271.