Devindatthao Devendrastava

Author(s): D S Baya
Publisher: Agam Ahimsa Samta Evam Prakrit Samsthan

Page 89

LXXXVIII : DEVENDRASTAVA
the two traditions is that the Buddhists believe in the existence of the unembodied gods, who exist only as pure consciousness. According to them these gods are formless, that is they don't have physical bodies that can be perceived through the senses. These gods or entities are said to have four levels of meditation-grounds, which are -
Ākāśānantyāyatana, Vijñānānantyāyatana, Akiñcanantyāyatana, Naivasañjñānāsañjñāyatana.
D.
While desiring the bliss of these levels if the conscious entity engages itself in the pursuit of its right-duty and rightmeditation, it keeps on enjoying the pleasures of the formless universe. As the extent of this formless universe is only upto the fourth ground called Naivasaññānāsañjñāyatana, it is also known as the fore–front of the universe (Lokāgra).
By this comparative study we find that this condition of the formless pure conscious entity of the Buddhist tradition compares well with the concept of the Perfected or liberated souls (Siddhas) of the Jaina tradition. As the Siddhas are situated at the fore-front of the universe enjoying eternal bliss, so are the Arūpadhātu gods of the Buddhist tradition exist in the foremost part of the universe only in the form of pure consciousness. The only difference being that while according to the Jainas the situation of the Siddhas there is eternal, according to the Buddhists that of the Arupadhātu gods is temporary for the life-duration of the gods there. The Buddhists believe that on the expiry of the life-span of the Arūpadhātu gods, the purely conscious entity attains final