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10
GENERAL SURVEY
to be obtained. As we shall see later, the Jaina stand. point is purely the scientist's point of view and there is, consequently, no room for any gods and goddesses within its scope, though it recognises the being of 24 Teachers in every cycle of time of incalculable duration, These Great Masters are termed Tirthamakaras (Founders of a fordable passage) to take the soul to the other shore beyond the turbulent sea of samsara (transmigration). These Great Ones are not incarnations of any god or other greater or lesser divinity ruling in high heaven, but men who perfected themselves by following the very method which they afterwards preached to others.
Vedicism is the expression of human adoration for a certain type of supernatural beings of whom the most notable are three primary deities that are compressible into or reducible to one. These are
(1) Surya, the Sun, (2) Indra and
(3) Agni Surya is the leader and king in heaven; the other gods follow him and he bestows immortality on them. It is to him that the sacred prayer termed Gayatri is addressed daily by almost all classes of Hindus.
The text of this most sacred prayer reads as follow :“Let us meditate on that excellent glory of the divine
Vivifier ; may he open our understanding."
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