$JES 302 Jain Philosophy Level 3 Book

Author(s): JAINA Education Committee
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee

Page 81

NAV TATTVA PARTI: JIV, AJIVA, PUNYA, PÄP, ÄSARVA AND BANDHA Of the nine fundamentals,
Jiv and Ajivs are Jneya (to be known) • Asrava and Bandha are Heya (to be avoided) • Samvar, Nirjarä and Moksha are Upädeya (to be adopted)
Päp is Heya and • Punya is Upädeya for the beginners and Heya for spiritually advanced person
Punya is a meritorious deed done with a feeling of self-satisfaction and accomplishment (in other words with ego). However if the same deed done without the feeling of accomplishment and attachment (with our ego) is not Punya but the action or deed is considered the true nature of a person (Shuddha Bhäv). Hence Punya activity is considered Upädeya in the beginning stages of spiritual development to progress towards liberation (for laymen). For those who are active aspirants of liberation it is considered Heya, because such aspirants should not have the feeling of accomplishments and attachments to even meritorious deeds. Their activities or deeds are always be meritorious without the feeling of attachments to the activities. No karma can attach to a person if his/her action is done without any attachments or feeling of accomplishments.
Some description of Jiv has been given in the earlier chapter while dealing with Shad-dravya. It should however be clear from the discussion thus far that the knowledge of these fundamentals or of anything else is meant for knowing the Self. This Self is variously known as Jiv, Atmä, Paramätmä, Chaitanya, Brahma, consciousness, etc., Thus soul being the focal point and ultimate objective of all knowledge, it would be useful to discuss it here at some length.
Jiv (Living Beings)
'What is this soul after all?' No one has ever seen it. Therefore atheists (people who do not believe in God), who refuse to believe in anything that cannot be perceived or grasped by senses, deny the existence of the soul. Most scientists contribute to this view. They think that the body is a biochemical composition and is made from a peculiar combination of genes from the parents. As long as the composition is active, it is said to be a living organism; and when the activity comes to an end, it is considered to be dead. But science does not clarify what exactly makes it active and why does the activity come to an end. It is a fact that when a person dies, his heart, kidneys and other limbs may still be active but the body is unable to use them and therefore they cease to function. If however, they are removed from that body in time, they can be transplanted in another body and function effectively in the new body. Does it not mean that there was some sort of invisible energy that was activating different limbs of the body while it was alive? That energy happens to disappear at the time of death and the presence or loss of that energy is the difference between life and death. Spiritual science calls that energy soul.
There exist an infinite number of souls and every living body has a soul. (Sädhäran Vanaspatikäya has infinite number of souls in the one body). The soul is invisible and has no form or shape. It cannot therefore be experienced by the senses. It is an element of its own and cannot be created by any sort of combination or composition and can never be
JAIN PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE I