Glory of Jainism

Author(s): Kumarpal Desai
Publisher: 108 jain Tirth Darshan Trust

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root-cause of misery and bondage. When passions are totally exterminated, all the bound karmic matter gets totally dissociated from the soul and ultimately the soul attains its pure state or liberation. The theory of moral causation necessarily implies rebirth. Every act must necessarily be followed by its consequence. If the consequences of our acts have not been experienced in the present life, they necessarily demand a future life (rebirth) for their fruition.
Liberation (moksha) : Liberation means the attainment of pure state of infinite knowledge and infinite bliss. This state is attained on the complete dissociation of the soul from obscuring karmic matter. And this complete dissociation is achieved by stopping (samvara) through self-control the inflow of new karmic matter into soul as well as by complete premature voluntary elimination (nirjara) of the bound karmic matter through special austerities and pure meditation. As soon as the soul becomes absolutely free from the burden of karmic matter, it moves upward (because upward motion is natural to the soul) and reaches the summit of the universe where it rests for ever because beyond the upper limit of the universe there exists no medium of motion to assist it to move upward further). Liberation is attained through human body only. There is no possibility of fall from the state of liberation. For Jainas the liberated perfected soul is God. They do not believe in one world-creator God.
To attain liberation, it is necessary to have the following three qualities known as three Jewels (Ratna-traya) : 1. Spiritual inclination or faith in self-evident spiritual truths, viz. I (soul) exiist, I am
afflicted with miseries, there are causes of miseries, I can totally exterminate these causes, and as a result I can absolutely free myself from all misery. This is called samyag-darshana. Spiritually wholesome knowledge (samyag-jnana): All knowledge that is associated with and directed by spiritual inclination or faith is spiritually wholesome knowledge. Spiritually wholesome conduct (samyak-charitra): The conduct this inspired by the spiritually wholesome knowledge is necessarily spiritually wholesome conduct.
The three combined are the means of liberation.
JAINA PRACTICES
For spiritual evolution Jaina aspirants are required to observe five vows of non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, celibacy and non-possession. Observance of these vratas by monks and nuns is done rigorously and perfectly, and hence their vows are called mahavrata. On the other hand, observance by householders being partial, their vows are called anuvrata. In addition to these five anuvratas, householders practise seven supporting vows. The five prime vows are : (1) Abstinence from injury to life (pranatipata-viramana):
This is the fundamental vow from which all other vows stem. Ascetics abstain from all killing, while householders from intentional killing. For food the destruction of the higher forms of life from two-sensed beings upward is strictly forbidden to all the Jainas. So they are strict vegetarians. Many devout Jainas observe further restriction on food by not consuming figs, honey and root vegetables to avoid killing of infinite minute beings. Again, this vow demands that vowers should desist from taking up occupations that involve cruelty to animals and humans.