Book Title: Concept of Divinity in Jainism
Author(s): P Ajay Kothari
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

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Page 203
________________ Shramana thoughts, the sufferings and miseries can be removed and divinity can be attained by man through his own efforts following the path preached by the Omniscient, Divine being. In Hinduism, a worshipper cannot become God (Paramatma). He can be nearer to God and not identical with God (except in Shankara Philosophy). While in Jainism, liberated soul attains divinity. In Buddhism, one can attain Buddhattva or enlightenment (Nibbana) and have eternal bliss with all knowledge. Buddhism, an anatamavada tradition, denies the existence of eternal self and after liberation, man (Sanghata) vanishes like a fire in a sky which concept is very much opposed to the Jain concept. Jainism, an atmavada tradition, has a faith that a soul is eternal and even after liberation it remains as Siddha with individuality in its divine excellence viz., infinite knowledge, infinite perception, infinite power, etc. In other words, the liberated soul experiences the eternal bliss or divinity in all its manifestations. We have made an attempt to present the Jaina view of divinity wherein pure soul and God are, in reality, one and the same thing, and the final goal of any particular soul is to become pure and perfect soul (Paramatma) with all the attributes of divineness which in Jaina faith do not include creating and ruling the universe. Further, pure and perfect soul never comes down from that condition of divinity (Paramatmatva) to the condition of soul in the ordinary embodied state. Unlike Hinduism, Jainism does not believe that by devotion through prayers or rituals, divine beings can give boons and remove the suffering and misery of the devotees. A Jaina aspirant does not receive any boons from supreme divinity, (Parmatma) but he prays to him, while remembering his divine attributes, as an ideal or example that he might attain the same divineness (Paramatmatva) and become Svayambhu. Each soul, after liberation, has the same identity of divineness. Thus, appa so THE CONCEPT OF DIVINITY IR JAIHISM 189 Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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