________________
84
TIRTHANKARA MAHAVIRA AND HIS SARVODAYA TIRTHA
the domain of purity by steadily curbing the desires with the help of the soul, such persons alone can exhaust karma. The activities like fasting and good intention are called penance only in usage.
The Doctrine of Moksa
Moksa or liberation means to be fully free of all disturbing elements like delusion, attachment, passions, etc, of all karma enshrouding knowledge, etc, and no-karma starting with the body, etc. This also has two types, viz., subjective and objective. Those pure attitudes of the soul which are instrumental in liberating the soul from disturbing elements like delusion, passions, attachment and from karma bondage are subjective moksa. In other words, it stands for the full development of qualities like knowledge, etc, and full development of pure categories. And liberation from objective karma enshrounding knowledge, etc., and from no-karma starting with the body is objective
mokşa,53
The means to attain liberation consist of check and exhaustion (samvara-nırjarā) Thus check and exhaustion are the means and liberation is the goal Being the means, check and exhaustion constitute the road to liberation.
Check, exhaustion and liberation are useful doctrines Influx and bondage, virtue and vice, being the worldly way are non-useful doctrines For taking shelter in, the most useful doctrine is the soul which exists in all the three time periods, which is constant and pure, and the soul apart, everything else is neither useful nor non-useful. They are worth knowing, to be known, but nothing more.
On the acquisition of the knowledge of one's own self, on being absorbed in it and on having a firm conviction about it, the useful doctrines like check, exhaustion and liberation take shape one after another, and influx, bondage, virtue, vice, drop out one after another, and the universe becomes a thing worth knowing for the wise.
53 Dravya Samgraha, Gatha, 37