Ahimsa and Jainism

Author(s): Vijayvallabhsuri
Publisher: Vallabhsuri Smarak Nidhi

Page 45

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PEACE ULTIMATE OBJECT The ultimate object of Jainism is nirvana which consists in peace. Nirvana is another name of moksa or liberation, mukti or deliverance Liberation can be realised by a man in the highest condition of aloofness and transcendentality of himself. Nirvana means freedom from pain or perfection, it is the safe, happy and quiet place which the great sages reach. It is the eternal place but it is difficult of approach. It is liberation from old age, disease, and death in short, all that constitutes a painful existence for the self. Moksa, which is a pleasant thing, is arrived at through a comfortable life.
In Jainism pairnirvana is the last fruit or final consummation of the highest perfection attained by man or attainable in human life. It is the same term as nirvana or moksa meaning final liberation that comes to pass on the complete waning out or exhaustion of the accumulated strength or force or kakma. Moksa is the essential point in the teachings of Mahavira, which is generally understood as emancipation. It may also mean final deliverance or liberation from the fetters of worldly life and total annihilation or extinction of human passion.
Merit and demerit (punya and papa) are equally reprehensible for the aspirant after the highest stage of saintship and nirvana.