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consists in the freeing of oneself from bondage of Karma by the fullest unfolding of the perfection inherent in the human soul. Like Buddhism it believes in the moral perfetion of man and like it, too, it displays an undercurrent of spiritual isolationism or loneliness of the soul on its upward journey. As soon as one attains Keval-jnana or absolute knowledge, he becomes a Kevalin or Jina. Cleansed of Karmic matter, and thereby detached from bondage this perfect one finally ascends to the summit of the universe, isolated yet unlimited and all-pervading in its omniscience. This is the final stage of infinite knowledge, power and bliss and the ultimate goal of all religious pursuits, according to Jainism,
The universe is believed to have been made up of two principal categories-The Jiva (animate substances) and the Ajiva (inanimate substances), the former being the enjoyer and the actor, the latter the enjoyed and the acted upon. It is the concourse and the action and interaction of these two which keeps the world going. By its association with matter and material forces the soul has since ever engulfed itself in sansara (or the world becoming, the endless round of births and deaths) which is full of pain, suffering, anxiety, struggle, hatred, despair, etc. But when the individual becomes conscious of the dynamism inherent in himself he with heroic fortitude launches upon the path of fresh endeavour and struggles for freedom, for liberation from the Karmic bondage, and thus turns what was the vale of tears into the vale of soul-making. The journey's end is reached when the soul has purged itself of all impurities alien to its essential nature, when it has freed itself entirely from all Karmic fettres and thus has attained the sublime, transcendental solitariness and absoluteness of the Kavalin.
The religion preached and propagated by such Kevalins (The Jain Tirthankaras) is not only predominately humanistic, it is full of pragmatism because of its workability and feasibility in action. Even knowledge is not to be pursued for its own sake, but it is to be pursued so as it may serve the chief objective of liberating the soul. 'Do not live to know, but know to live', is the maxim. But in order to
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| SR No. | 010092 |
| Book Title | Jain Darshan aur Sanskruti Parishad |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Mohanlal Banthia |
| Publisher | Mohanlal Banthiya |
| Publication Year | 1964 |
| Total Pages | 263 |
| Language | Hindi |
| Classification | Book_Devnagari |
| File Size | 9 MB |