Book Title: Gandharavada
Author(s): Esther A Solomon
Publisher: Gujarat Vidyasabha

Previous | Next

Page 306
________________ 217 the holes in the clouds allow the light of the sun to come out; when all the covering is removed, knowledge shines forth in all its purity, as it is self-luminous. Similarly, the soul is of the nature of inherent infinite happiness; pāpa causes obstruction to this happiness, while punya helps in the manifestation of this inherent happiness; when the entire veil is removed, when all karman-papa and punya-is eradicated, true happiness reveals itself and the perfect emancipated soul enjoys perfect bliss (2008-9). And as by the removal of all karman, the emancipated soul attains perfection, the culmination of perfection, from even that, it attains true happiness which is beyond the limits of transmigration, and of a nature quite distinct from sensuous pleasure. This is also a fitting answer to the objection that as punya and papa are eradicated, there will be no cause for pleasure and pain and so the emancipated soul will have no pleasure or pain, like the sky. It cannot be said that there is no cause for pleasure, because the eradication of karma is itself the cause of pleasure (2010). Thus it can be seen that what is commonly regarded as pleasure is, as a matter of fact, of the nature of pain; it is the fruit of punya; and pain, the fruit of pāpa, is obviously such; what is experienced by the body, etc. is pain only and it alone is there in the state of worldly existence; there is no trace of true pleasure or bliss as long as the bodily and other adjuncts are there and it is wrong to believe that there can be no pleasure the absence of the body, etc. in the state of emancipation or perfectness; on the contrary, there is no bliss as long as the body, etc. are associated with the soul; and absence of body, etc. is indispensable for bliss. Thus the perfect souls, the siddhas experience true pleasure or bliss, even when they have no body, etc. (2011). The opponent's contention that the state of emancipation would admit of neither pleasurer nor pain in the absence of body and sense-organs is right as far as worldly pleasure or happiness is concerned. Ignorant people delighting in sensuous satisfaction 28 Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400