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attain the same gunas in their own Jīvas. Jains do not call themselves idol-worshipers, "but profess to be ideal-worshipers."13
This concept of "worship of the guņas" is known as gunānuvāda. "guna" meaning quality, and "anuvāda" meaning repetition/translation. In the context of this term, anuvāda means the repetition/translation of a specific quality or set of qualities in oneself. Gunānuvāda can be understood as being the worship of qualities in hopes to foster them in the self. Most Jains are not familiar with this term, and no one could give me an exact reference to where I could find the actual term gunānuvāda in the literature, but it perfectly describes the mechanism in Jain worship. 14
gunānuvāda, literature does contain countless examples of the
While I could not find term concept.
“By God, Jainism understands a liberated soul...in this sense God is an example to inspire and to guide" K.P. Singh, as quoted by Sharma15
"To realize my own (pure) nature | eulogize the perfect one..." Ācārya Amitagati's Yogasāra-Prābhrta16
"Jina-worship promises no reward whatsoever save the turning of one's mind toward the goal of mokşa" -Jaini, The Jaina Path of Purification
"I bow to the Lord who is the leader of the path of liberation, the destroyer of the mountains of karmas and the knower of the whole reality, so that I may realize those qualities."
Opening verse of the Tattvärtha-sutra18
13 Jain, Jyoti Prasad. Religion and Culture of the Jains, P. 126 14 Discussions with Natalia Zheleznova (Moscow State University), and Dr. Pandey and Dr. S.R. Bhatt (International School for Jain Studies 2007 faculty) 15 K.P Singh, as quoted by: Sharma, Arvind. A Jaina Perspective on the Philosophy of Religion, Manohar Book Service, New Delhi, India, 2000. P.4 16 Acharya Amitagati's Yogasāra-Prabhta, P. 21 17 Jaini, Jaina Path of Purification, P. 193 18 Srimat Pujyapādācārya's Sarvärthasiddhi, The oldest extant commentary on Umāsvāmi's TattvärthaSūtra, Jwalāmālini Trust, Madras, India. 1992. p. 1
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