Doctrine of Liberation in Indian Religion

Author(s): Shivkumarmuni
Publisher: Munshiram Manoharlal Publisher's Pvt Ltd New Delhi

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THE DOCTRINE OF LIBERATION IN INDIAN RELIGIONS
self is endowed with qualities (guņin). The guņas of the self are remembrance (smști), desire for knowledge (jijñā sā), desire for activity (cikirşā), desire for movements (jigamişā) and doubt (samsaya) etc. These are self-evident, for they are realized by oneself. Hence the self, a gunin, is also self-evident. 46
Furthermore, the existence of self can be proved on the ground that the (jiva) in itself is pure (śuddha) like the sky.47 This self is independent, super-sensual, devoid of mind, body and speech; if one concentrates upon it by oneself then one can attain liberation.48
THE NATURE OF SELF
Every self is a conscious, doer, dynamic agent of actions and direct enjoyer. It is the living principle which corresponds to the life element or elan vital of Bergson's thought. Each self is a separate entity. It is eternai, uncreated, immaterial, incorporeal and beyond the range of physical vision. It is a simple unit, capable of fully realising in and for itself full freedom and perfection.
The existence of the self is tacitly assumed in Jainism. It is believed to be beginningless and endless. In other words it is indestructible and eternal. The jīva in samsára is not different from the body. This embodied being is, however, quite different from the real self. In other words, self is different from the body. From the standpoint of time the self is viewed as existing in all the three periods of time, past, present and future. Like time (kāla), the self (ātman) is also believed to be without beginning and without end. The self is sometimes compared to the sky. Like the sky it is formless. The self is the foundation of knowledge and other virtues.
The Jaina view of self is substantial. It can assume different forms and names in different states of existence (gati) but its substantial nature remains unchanged just as gold remains gold in different ornaments made of gold. It has been stated in the Samayasāra that:
“Whatever is produced from a substance, has the same attributes as those of the substance. Know ye, certainly they cannot be different, just as bangles, etc. made of gold cannot be other than gold”. 49
46. 47.
Ganadharavada, verse 10. Yogasāra of Yogindra, verse 58; see Sital Prasad, A Comparasive Study of Buddhism and Jainism, p. 87. Yogasăra, verse 85. Samayasara, verse 308.
48. 49.