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is the same thing as Godhood. A Makta Ātman is like the Sun who shines in all his glory when the douds that hide him momentarily are dispersed by the wind. The dispersing of the clouds does not add to the lustre of the Suņ, but simply reveals his real nature. Clouds are but an intervening obstacle to the proper view of the Sạn. Similarly the rea! Atman is enshrouded in the veil of Karma when it is called Jiva or Bahir-atman. When with our persistent endeavour we tear it asunder, we have before us, or rather we realise within ourselves our real nature. What we have to achieve is the annihilation of our karmas. So long as karma dogs our footsteps we are to be born or reborn; destroy it and we are free.
" दग्धे बीजे यथाऽत्यन्तं प्रादुर्भवति नाङ्करः । कर्मबीजे तथा दग्धे न रोहति भवाङ्करः"॥
This is the idea of Godhood and Mukti. Jainism discards the creating God but admits gods, i. e., Mukta Souls; and they are innumerable. Then, is Jainism monistic or pluralistic ? The Jainism would reply, it is neither the one nor the other exclusively or it is both from different view-points. From ong point of view it is monistic like the Advaita Vedānta. All the Parmātmans may constitute one category of the Absolute in that the essence or the quality of them, all, is identical. Jņāna, Divine Light, is their essence. Take any number of sovereigąs for instance, and the quality of gold in all of them is the same. So from the point of view of Knowledge, Bliss and Power all Mukta Souls are one, but as thọ sovereigns in our illustration retain their individuality in spite of the fact that essentially all are identical, similarly the Mukta Souls still remain distinct; they do not merge into one another. This is where Jainism parts company with Advaita Philosophy. For, according to the latter, a Mukta Ātman becomes part and parcel of Brahman. The Absolute is not however a single unit by itself reducing the Universe to phantasm as with the
