Key of Knowledge

SR No.: 006702
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Champat Rai Jain
Publisher: ZZZ Unknown
Publication Year: 1919
Total Pages: 1204
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 25 MB

Page 728

707
According to Jain principles, from one point of view God is one, but from another, he is not only many, but infinite. With reference to His Svabhava or Swarupa (Omniscient and perfect status), He is one, but as regards the Atmans in which that perfect status has been manifested, He is infinite. In reality, Jainism does not worship any particular individuality, but that Perfect, Pure and Good status in which Atman exists as All-knowing, All-seeing, All-powerful, Allhappy and Vitraga. In Jainism prominence is given not to individuality, but to the status in which Atman becomes Paramatman, and that status, whatever may be the number of souls individually, is identically the one and the same."*
THE SIDDHANTA.
Jainism, thus, starts from the reality of the essence as well as the individual, and leads us to the highest heights of thought, without destroying either. From the point of view of the one, the many are transitory, hence, in a sense, illusory; but from that of the latter, the one is only seated distributively among them. How would a redeemed Soul feel?-is a question which can be answered by combining the two points of view, since a Saved One would possess perfect knowledge. He would, then, know Himself to be the enjoyer of a status which, as such, is only one and indivisible, but which is all the same enjoyed by all those who have been redeemed. This, then, is the true definition of Brahman or the Absolute, as some people insist on calling It.
The word Brahman usually indicates existence or consciousness. But reflection shows that existence and consciousness are pure abstractions of thought, like fluidity, manhood, or any other abstract quality. We are in the habit of abstracting away the qualities found in common between a certain number of individuals or things, forgetting that, apart from thought, they are not *An Insight into Jainism.'