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appears due to nescience as if dirty and of the nature
of difference). (iii) urdhvamūlam adhaḥsakham aśvattham prāhur avyayam;
chandāmsi yasya parņāni yas tam veda sa vedavit-. (Bhagavad Gitā 15–1; Yogaśikhopanişad 6. 14). [The tree with its root upward and branches downward they regard as indestructible. Chandas (Vedas) are its
leaves. He, who knows it, is the true knower of the Veda]. (iv) purușa evedań gni* sarvam yad bhūtain yac ca bhāvyam
utāmộtatvasyeśāno yad annenātirohati. (Rgveda 10. 90. 2; Sāmaveda 619; Yajurveda 31. 2; Atharvaveda 19. 6. 4). (Whatever was and shall be, all this is Puruşa. He is the
lord of immortality; he grows by food). (v) yad ejati yad naijati yad dūre yad u antike;
yad antar asya sarvasya yat sarvasyāsya bāhyataḥ. (īsā Up. 5). (What trembles (moves) and what does not, what is far and what is near, what is within all this and outside all this is the Puruşa)].
Mahāvīra anticipating that Indrabhūti too may feel inclined to believe that there is only one soul, replies that it is not.so. If there were one soul, like ether, in all bodies, it would have the same characteristics in all of them. But this is not what we find; hence there cannot be one soul in all the bodies. Because of differences of characteristics it can be seen that the souls are many, like jars, etc.. If there were but one soul there would not be pleasure, pain, bondage, liberation, for one and the same soul cannot experience pleasure and pain or bondage and emancipation at the same time (1581-1582).
* The Yajurvedins pronounce Anusvära occurring in the middle of a pāda aş gum. This seems to have crept in here as ‘gni', as the latter is not found in any place where this verse occurs.
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