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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailashsagarsuri Gyanmandir
Atman and Mokşa
he is Indra, he is (Prajapati - hatela) the lord of creatures; these gods are he; and so are the five primary elements : earth, air, the etherial fluid, water and light; these, and the same joined with minute objects and other seeds (of existence), and again other (beings) produced from eggs, or borne in wombs, or originating in hot moisture, or springing from plants; whether horses or kine, or men, or elephants, whatever lives, and walks and flies, or whatever is immovable (as herbs and trees); all that is the eye of intelligence. On intellect (every thing) is founded; the world is the eye of intellect, and intellect is its foundation. Intelligence is (Brahmā) the great one. By this (intuitively) intelligent soul, that sage ascended from the present world to the blissful region of heaven; and obtaining all his wishes, became immortal. He became immortal."1
This passage from the Aitare'ya Aranyaka clearly states that the soul according to the Araṇyakas is constituted of intelligence; it is an intelligent principle, present in all the things ranging from the inanimate things like the earth to the highest gods like Indra and Prajāpati, including the vegetative and animal kingdoms. It is according to them abstract, immaterial and conscious principle. The soul is a wider and subtler principle of intelligence present in all the things, though in different grades. They also believed that the realisation of this intelligent principle enabled the individuals to rise to
1 Colebrooke H. T.: Essays on the Religion and Philosophy of the Hindus, pp. 29, 30.
For Private And Personal
| SR No. | 020053 |
| Book Title | tman_and_moksa |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | G N Joshi |
| Publisher | Gujarat University |
| Publication Year | 1965 |
| Total Pages | 901 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 12 MB |