International Jain Conference 1985 3rd Conference

Author(s): Satish Jain, Kamalchand Sogani
Publisher: Ahimsa International

Page 92

Concept of Soul in Jaina Philosophy
And its Scientific Interpretation
Dr. R. M. Kasliwal
In Jainism the concept of Soul or Atma is very important. In fact some even call it Atma Dharma. Every lving organism has a Soul or Atma and it manifests through a body. The physical body is therefore only a vehicle in which Atma, the living principle which gives rise to consciousness, resides. Without this life force, the body is only a dead matter. From the real point of view or Nischaya Naya, every soul is pure, perfect, all-knowing, all peaceful and all-blissful. It is free from passionate thought activity, defect or infirmity, desire or ambition, care or sorrow. It has infinite knowledge, infinite power and infinite happiness. It knows all, sees all and is not affected by praise or defamation and maintains equanimity under all circumstances. Therefore by nature it is pure and perfect and is capable of attaining Godhood and becoming Parmatma.
But from the practical point of view or Vyavhara Naya, the Soul or Atma appears impure because of the various thought activities like anger, pride, deceit and greed and other passionate thought activities which taint the Atma just as the particles of dust or dirt may make a piece of white cloth appear dirty. These thought activities and other similar activities produce Karmic matter or molecules and these get attached to the Atma (Soul) which is an unbroken whole substance, non-material in nature.
Therefore, although basically every soul which is immortal and non-perishable, is pure and perfect but because of its association with Karmic matter it remains impure and does not attain Godhood and according to the Karmic actions of the individual it goes on through the cycles of deaths and births and so on, till such time that the Atma is able to get rid of the Karmic bondage by various processes and procedures and is able to reach the pure and perfect state, when it gets liberated and attains Moksha. According to Jaina philosophy this is possible in every human being by his own individual efforts. Therefore, in a nutshell the the whole of the Jaina religion inspires to attain liberation or Moksha by knowing the true nature of one's soul. This is the main goal. Rites and rituals, vows and