Jaina Philosophy and Religion

SR No.: 001604
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Nyayavijay
Publisher: B L Institute of Indology
Publication Year: 1998
Total Pages: 500
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Philosophy, & Epistemology
File Size: 12 MB

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Jaina Philosophy and Religion
pletely disappears when the heat reaches its highest point. Similarly, if the cause of the gradual decrease of attachment and aversion is developed
fullness, it will completely destroy attachment and aversion. Is there anything objectionable in this? The cause of the decrease of attachment and aversion is wholesome mental activity or reflection. When the wholesome mental reflections become very strong ultimately resulting in the purest mental concentration, then attachment and aversion get completely destroyed. And on their destruction, the soul attains the state absolutely free from the coverings of karmas. It is so because on the destruction of attachment and aversion, the knowledge-covering karma, the vision-covering karma and the obstructive karma—these three get completely eradicated. And on the attainment of perfect freedom from all the coverings of karmas, the infinite knowledge (omniscience) manifests itself. The whole palace of the worldly existence rests on the two pillars of attachment and aversion. Attachment and aversion are the roots of deluding karma or delusion. A kind of palm tree (tāla-vykşa) dries up if it is simply pierced with a needle at its top. Similarly, if the roots of all karmas, viz., attachment and aversion are cut off, then the entire tree of karmas gets dried up and destroyed.
Establishment of the Existence of Omniscience On the destruction of attachment and aversion, the deluding karma gets totally dissociated from the soul. And on the total dissociation of the deluding karma, the remaining three ghātī karmas get completely eliminated. As a result of this, infinite knowledge (omniscience) gets fully manifested. The following proof is offered for its existence. What does the varying degrees of knowledge observed in different individuals suggest? It suggests that the degree of the manifestation of knowledge is in direct proportion to the degree of the removal of the covering of the karma. The greater the degree of the removal of the covering, the greater is the manifestation of knowledge. And when the covering is totally removed, knowledge is manifested fully. Knowledge is not acquired. It is there in the soul. Infinite knowledge is the nature of the soul. Though infinite knowledge is present in all living beings, the degree of its manifestation varies due to the varying degree of the removal of the covering of the karma. Thus, the proof of omniscience follows from the proof of the necessity of the final consummation of the progressive development of knowledge. The progressive development must reach its completion