Concept of Divinity in Jainism

SR No.: 001637
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: P Ajay Kothari
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy
Publication Year: 2000
Total Pages: 248
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Religion, & Devotion
File Size: 15 MB

Page 241

gard to other objects. It is cognitive · cognisable and devoid of sacrifice or acceptance. It sustains itself. It is changeable · takes new forms and the previous form disappears. It is abstract but has definite dimension. In relation to Karmas, it does not cause or rejoice but remains unmoved by these.
Living brings are known for their desire for enjoyment and bondage created due to worldly things. But experience of the di. vine has never been done. The divine cannot be comprehended through ordinary sense perception but super-consciousness is needed which develops through the practice of spiritual discipline known as Yoga. When the divine experience is translated in ordinary language, the language is inadequate to express the experience. Although such experiences are expressed in terms of grada. tions or various classes of ascending gradations, the divine is be. yond gradations. It cannot be expressed in terms of one or some attributes or characteristics as it represents the indivisible whole. It retains its identical unity of the self through the process of infi. nite cycles of births and deaths. In this process, the divine is asso. ciated with karmic' and 'non-karmic' matters; but it is neither bound nor contaminated by it. The purity of divine remains untouched like a lotus leaf in water.
The divine is unrelated to 'karmas', good or bad, which are of material nature. It is without taste, colour, smell, touch, sound, bodily shapes, skeletal structure, molecules, pleasures, pains, de lusions, etc. It is without any physical and psycho-physical characteristics. Erroneous beliefs in the divine or Self (the souls) and non divine causes of 'karmic' modifications, inflow of karmic mat. ters and its bondage, prevention and annihilation of such karmic matters lead to misery in life in its career of transmigration. The divine is characterised by consciousness and cannot be the causal agency for karmic and other non-divine matters. The divine produces, enjoys and knows its own self.
Like a clear crystal, the divine is flawless and perfectly pure; although crystal's surface will reflect the colour of the object, say green or yellow, when the tie to alien object is broken, the divine again reveals its flawless nature and shines in its pristine purity and glory. Whosoever realises this reality will give up all notions of causal agency relating to alien objects. Ignorance of this is the cause of all misery as erroneous identification lead to various impure dispositions, beliefs, knowledge and conduct. Even if such