Concept of Divinity in Jainism

Author(s): P Ajay Kothari
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 69

of negative aspect of nirvana. The summum bonum of Buddhism is spoken of in negative and transcendental synonyms for nirvana. In some of the later Pali texts, we find nirvana described as the uninterrupted (accanta), the uncreated (akata), the infinite (ananta), the inextinguishable (apalokita), the cessation of suffering (dukkha-kkhaya), the freedom from longing (ainasa), the un-compounded (asamkkhata), the farther shore, the beyond (para), the deliverance (mokkha), the extinction (nirodha), the indiscernible (anidassana), the un-oppressed (aryapajja), the absolute (kevala), the un-endangered (anitika), the unattached (analaya), the deathless (accuta), the release (vimutti), the final deliverance (upavugga), the dispassionate (viraga), the stillness (santi), the purity (visudhi) and the allayment (nibhuta).
The positive aspects of nirvana : The Buddhist scriptures contain a number of positive names of nirvana. It is : “the harbour of refuge, the cool cave, the island amidst the floods, the place of bliss, emancipation, liberation, safety, the supreme, the transcendental, the un-created, the tranquil, the home of ease, the calm, the end of suffering, the medicine for all evil, the unshaken, the ambrosia, the immaterial, the imperishable, the abiding, the further shore, the unending, the bliss of effort, the supreme joy, the ineffable, the detachment, the holy city."39 Fourth Noble Truth - Path of Nibbana (divinity)
The fourth noble prescribes the. path of purification and perfection, divinity. It is called noble eight fold path ‘ario attangiko maggo’.4u This path is also called middle way (majjhima patipada) because it transcends the two extremes of indulgence in sense pleasure and self mortifying purity. This noble path depicts the virtuous life. The noble eight fold path is propounded as a well-tested method of attaining the internal purity, divinity. The eight fold path is as follows :
THE CONCEPT OF DIVINITY IN JAINISM