Jain Journal 1973 10

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

Page 10

OCTOBER, 1973
liberated souls abide in the hall of the Siddhas, the Siddhasila --and live in the enjoyment of Self.
A question arises that when the Arhat is an embodied Soul, that when in the stages of spiritual development, he is one step lower than the Siddha, that when he has still to get admission in the Siddhasila, why in the Namokara Mantra he has been given the first position, even before the Siddhas. The answer is simple. The most noteworthy characteristic of the Arhats is that they are Āptas, implying thereby that they alone are competent to utter sacred words that serve as beaconlight on the soul's road to spiritual ascent. The Siddhas are bodiless and hence too lofty to produce sacred words. The Acrayas, the Upadhyayas and the Sadhus are on a much lesser plane and hence not competent to produce words of authority. The assignment on earth of the Acaryas and the Upadhyayas is to preserve, to interpret, to transmit over space and time the words of the omniscient Arhats. The Sadhu are to mend and purify their own conduct rather than be teachers to others. In this way, the Arhats are the only ones that have by dint of omniscience, the competence to give forth words of authority, and simultaneously they have the capability to do so because, unlike the Siddhas they have a physical existence. Hence not only servi ideals which every human being should strive to be, but also because of the treasure of sacred words that they bequeth to the holy men of their order and through them to the rest of their contemporaries and to posterity, the Arhats are, so to say, a bridge between those that are liberated and those that are still in the process of liberation, and hence they are the greatest friends of humanity. Because of this their very significant role, that the Arhats have been given the first position in the Namokāra Mantra, even before the Siddhas.
There is still yet another question—as to why the Tirthankaras, the chief object of Jaina adoration have been completely omitted from the Namokāra Mantra. Again, the answer is simple. All Tirthankaras are Arhats but all Arhats are not Tirthankaras. When we make obeisance to the Arhats, we ipso facto make obeisance to the Tirthankaras. The Tirthankaras make their appearance in particular phases of the Jaina time-cycle. This cycle has two broad phases-one ascension (utsarpini) and the other descension (avasarpini)-each with six sub-divisions (aras). The Tirthankaras make their appearance in the third and fourth sub-divisions of each phase of ascension and descension, when pleasure (suşama) and pain (duşama) are evenly balanced. In three matters, the Tirthankaras differ from other Arhats-in the dreams of their mothers before they are born, in the five auspicious occasions