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Karma. Since old Karmas automatically fall off after their fruition, the soul eventually can become Karmaless. That is the state of liberation, which should be the ultimate objective of every one.
The sixth Fundamental states that there is a way to attain liberation and resorting to that mode constitutes the religion. The principal role of religion is thus to lead the worldly soul towards liberation. The purpose of composing this Ätmasiddhi Shästra is to show that path. It was therefore stated in the second stanza that the path of liberation, which stands mostly forsaken at present, has been explicitly described here.
Every religion purports to show the right path for its followers. Some of them, however, have no concept of liberation. They do talk of salvation, but equate it with gaining the pleasure of an Almighty or some other deity, and enjoying the situation that He might extend by virtue of His pleasure. Such a state is termed as heavenly happiness. No state can, however, continue forever. It is conceivable that a time may come, when one would lose the favor of the Almighty. In that case He would throw him out and extend the appropriate punishment!
Jainism does not subscribe to such a salvation. It conceives of the state of ultimate liberation from which one does not have to come back. That is a perfectly blissful, eternal state. The liberated soul has not to take a new birth and stays forever in that blissful state. This concept is not aristocratic in the sense of restricting it for only a few selected souls. It is fully democratic. Not only does it state that every soul is equal, but also states that every soul has the potentiality to attain liberation. What needs to be done is to realize that potentiality and to manifest the true nature of soul. All sorts of spiritual pursuit are meant for that purpose.
Shatsthänak Sankshepamän, Shat Darshan Pan Teh; Samajävä Paramärthane, Kahyän Jnänie Eh.
These are the six steps (Fundamentals) in brief and they also constitute the six schools of thought; the enlightened persons have described them in order to elucidate the ultimate truth. (44)
Explanation & Discussion:
These six Fundamentals constitute the six steps on the path of liberation, which need to be treaded one by one. First of all one has to believe in the existence of soul. When no doubt remains about it, he needs to consider that the soul is eternal; it is indestructible and stays forever. After being convinced of it he would conceive of its continually acquiring Karma and realize how it has been undergoing birth after birth as a consequence. Thereby one would think of reaching the Karmaless state so as to be free from the cycle of birth and death. Then he needs to consider how to gain that Karmaless state and resort to the path thereof.
These six Fundamentals also constitute the six main ideologies or six schools of thought prevailing in the spiritual realm. They are collectively called Shaddarshan. Shad means six and Darshan means the ideological schools of thought. Those six schools are presented differently by different people. The Vedäntist consider only those schools
