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10 ...........
................. NATURE OF SALVATION
(a Jain Point - of - View)
Introduction
Before we talk about the “Nature of Liberation” in Jainism, let us be clear about Jainism as religion and its philosophy as a significantly important school of Indian Philosophy. Jainism - a religion of Jainas - is considered very ancient as old as Vedas or may be even before that. It possesses all the postulates required for any system to become a religion. Understanding religion is a wide topic and we would not enter into its full details. However, we must note that "of all the forces that have worked and are still working to mould the destinies of human race, none, certainly, is more potent than that, the manifestation of which we call religion” In the very distinction between the living and the dead we find in the living there is freedom, there is intelligence. This freedom is what we are all striving for. To be more free is our constant goal, for ‘in perfect freedom can there be perfection? This longing for freedom leads to idea of absolutely free'. The concept of God is thus a fundamental concept in human constitution. Both, the conception of bondage and the conception of God are the outcome of the idea of freedom. Religion shows the path, a way to gain freedom.
Jainism as religion of Jainas, is not different from the others in the above mentioned point of view. It certainly does not accept the authority of Vedas and is fundamentally different from the other systems of Indian Philosophy. We must note, the following fundamental principles of Jain religion and thought.
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