Aspects of Jaina Religion

Author(s): Vilas Sangve
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith

Page 35

Fundamentals of Jainism :: 31
have no more to do with wordly affairs as they have reached Nirvāna or Mukti, i.e., complete emancipation. The liberated souls in their pure condition possess four atributes known as ananta-chatustaya, i.e., infinite quaternary, viz.,
(i) ananta-darsana, i.e., infinite perception (ii) ananta-jñāna i.e., infinite knowledge, (iii) ananta-vīrya, i.e., infinite power, and (iv) anata-sukha, i.e., infinite bliss.
Thus the most significant difference between the mundane and the liberated souls consists in the fact that the former is permeated with subtle matter known as karma; while the latter is absolutely pure and free from any material alloy. (C) Mundane souls
The mundane or embodied souls are living beings, the classification of which is a subject not only of theoretical but also of great practical interest to the Jainas. As their highest duty is not to injure any living beings, it becomes incumbent on them to know the various forms which life may assume. • The mundane souls are of two kinds, viz. (i) samanaska, i.e., those who have a mind (the faculty of distinguishing right or wrong), and (ii) amanaska, i.e., those who have no mind.
Further, the mundane souls are also classified into two kinds from another point of view: (a) sthāvara, i.e., the immobile or the one-sensed souls, that is, having only the sense of touch; and (b) trasa, i.e., the mobile or, having a body with more than one sense organ.
Again, mobile souls are those which, being in fear, have the capacity of moving away from the object of fear. But immobile souls do not have this capacity. (D) One-sensed souls
The immobile or one-sensed souls are of five kinds, viz., (i) prthvi-kāya, i.e., earth-bodied, (ii) ap-kāya, i.e., water bodied, (iii) tejaḥ-kāya, i.e., fire-bodied, (iv) vāyu-kāya, i.e., air bodied, and (v) vanaspati-kāya, i.e., vegetable-bodied.
The Jaina belief that ‘nearly everything is possessed of