Ahimsa and Jainism

Author(s): Vijayvallabhsuri
Publisher: Vallabhsuri Smarak Nidhi

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There are four kinds of destructive karma which retain the soul in mundane existence e.g., knowle. dge-obscuring Karma, faith-obscuring karma, karma obstructing the progress of the soul, and karma deluding the soul. Karma plays an important part in Jain Metaphysics. Jainism as a practical religion teaches us to purge ourselves of impurities arising from karma.
SOUL IN JAINISM In Jainism everybody has an individual soul. This soul exists as long as the body exists, but after death the soul and the body are no more. There are no souls which are born again. The souls and substances do not undergo any change. They are liable to changes due to changes in circumstances. The plurality of soul is a point in Jainism which is the same as in the Samkhya system. Both the systems necessitate a careful consideration of the cosmical, biological, embryological, physical, mental and moral positions of the living individuals of the world as a whole. These constitute the scientific background of the two systems of thought. These also constitute the scientific background of Vedanta and Buddhism. The Jain belief is a belief in the transmigration of soul, a point in which it differs from the transmigration of soul from embodiment