Jain Journal 1970 10

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 32

OCTOBER, 1970
of karmic matter is dispersed and dissociated from the soul and the association of self with the non-self has ended once and for all.
We shall conclude after briefly reviewing the Jaina conceptions regarding self and mokṣa with the Vedic and Buddhist conceptions. The Vedic attitude can be seen from the following quotations from the Upanisad: "Emancipation (mokşa) means identification of self with the Brahman." "It is identification of self with the Absolute (Brahman) which is Truth, Consciousness and Infinite." "The wise, having reached Him who is omnipresent everywhere, devoted to the Self, enter into Him wholly." Thus according to the Upanisads, emancipation is as indefinable as the Brahman inasmuch as the former is as nothing but the realization of the latter. Brahman which alone is real, is infinite and unchanging. It is pure consciousness.
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According to the Buddhist conceptions, self is devoid of any essence and dissolves into nothing. It is at best an aggregate of rūpa (material form), vedana (feeling), etc., which never coalesce into one indivisible entity. Buddha emphatically rejected the conception of self, being permanent, immutable and eternal, as absurd. Again, emancipation is avyakta (indefinable) because it is "deep immeasurable and infathomable like the great ocean". Truth is too deep to be expressed in words. It is to be realised. Emancipation means freedom, not only from evil passions but freedom from life itself because life itself is evil.
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Now, the Jaina position, being free from all absolutism, is quite distinct from that of either of the above absolutists. Thus while the Upanisadic thinkers find the immutable single reality behind the world of phenomena and plurality and Buddhists find everything impermanent and substanceless, Jainas do not accept absolute permanence or absolute impermanence. With them change is as much real as permanance. They believe in self as persisting through the cycles of births and deaths. They believe in good and bad deeds and the resultant happiness and suffering. And they believe in the final emancipation and a spiritual substance surviving in its purest state in liberation which is staunchly denied by the Buddhists.
abbreviations :
J.S.D. Jaina Siddhanta Dipika Tattva. Tattvartha Sutra Uttara. Uttaradhyayana Sutra