The Rāyapaseṇiya Sūtra is the second Uvaṅga of Jaina Canon. The main topic of the Rāyapaseṇiya Sūtra is the debate on the specific character of jīva, that is to say, soul.
There is constant controversy concerning the theory of soul and the celestial s ...
The Rāyapaseṇiya Sūtra is the second Uvaṅga of Jaina Canon. The main topic of the Rāyapaseṇiya Sūtra is the debate on the specific character of jīva, that is to say, soul.
There is constant controversy concerning the theory of soul and the celestial sphere, heaven.
In the Rāyapaseṇiya Sūtra, Paesi and Kesī Kumāra Samaṇa were the debaters. Primarily Paesi was a King of Seyaviya City of Kekaya Ardha and he was a akriyāvādin. Paesi believed the Cārvāka darśana. Because he didn’t believe about any soul and deva-loka, the existence of another world.
Touching these topics, Paesi had a long dispute with Kesī Kumāra Samaṇa. They argued hotly about many topics, soul and deva-loka, no life after death etc. In debating Kesī Kumāra Samaṇa had recourse to various metaphorical expressions and figurative similes. Kesī Kumāra Samaṇa could give ready answers to any questions of Paesi. Paesi too had recourse to several allegories and the episodes of his family.
At last, Paesi succeeded in dispersing his doubt altogether. He undertood totally the Jaina doctrine of jīva and ajīva, paṃcāṇuvvaiya, sattasikkhāvaiya, four yāmas of Pārśvanātha. Paesi became Kesī Kumāra Samaṇa’s disciple.
By the way, there are many Buddhist versions of the Rāyapaseṇiya Sūtra of Jaina order, that is, The Pāyāsi-suttanta of Dīgha-Nikaya and the other Buddhist sūtras of Chinese versions of the Buddhist Tripiṭaka. And the stories, sentence structure, argument’s logic in the Paesi’s arguments sūtras of two religions are the same.
In this Paper, upon investigation of the six editions of Paesi’s arguments, I come to the conclusion that those editions of Buddhist canon were derived from the sources of Jaina canon, Rāyapaseṇiya Sūtra.
Once more I have tried to sum up the points that in the Pāyāsi-suttanta of Dīgha-Nikaya and the other Buddhist sūtras of Chinese version of the Buddhist Tripiṭaka, Kumāra Kassapa Bhikkhu was the same person of Kesī Kumāra Samaṇa of the Rāyapaseṇiya Sūtra.
The point is that Kumāra Kassapa was not the bhikkhu of Gautama Buddha’s disciple. He had recourse to the same various parables and analogies as Kesī Kumāra Samaṇa in proof of jīva, that is, soul as reality. To put it flatly, the main doctrine of Buddhism is the no soul theory, that is, anātma-vāda.