Mahavira and his Philosophy of Life

SR No.: 006934
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Kamalchand Sogani
Publisher: Jain Vidya Samsthan
Publication Year: 1998
Total Pages: 80
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 9 MB

Page 38

has awareness only of the physical body and its various accompaniments, the Antarātman has developed spiritual awareness, but the Paramatman attains to the highest realization of spiritual experience that passes understanding. In the state of Paramātman the empirical self becomes universal self in the sense that it is capable of intuiting all the objects of the world owing to the emergence of omniscience. In view of the fact of possessing omniscience, it will not be contradictory to say that the ominscient being is all-pervading, and that all the objects are within him, since he is the embodiment of knowledge and all the objects are the objects of knowledge. The omniscient being neither accepts nor abandons, nor transforms the external objectivity, but only witnesses and apprehends the world of objects without entering into them, just as the eye sees the object of sight. The Paramātman not only manifests infinite intuitive knowledge, but also experiences unalloyed bliss which is self-originated, supersensuous, unique, infinite and interminable. The correlate of infinite knowledge and bliss is infinite energy without which the former two can not be sustained. Thus we may say that the cognitive, conative and affective tendencies of the self find supreme satisfaction in the state of Paramātman. It is of capital importance to point out that Jainism gives credence to the infinite plurality of Paramātmans just as there is ontological pluralism of empirical selves. Every empirical self can become universal and there are as many universal selves as there are empirical selves without any contradiction. In Jaina terminology, every Jiva is potentially a Siddha and in Siddhahood self-individuation is sustained.
Mahavira and his Philosophy of Life