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Jaina Perspective in Philosophy and Religion
Delusion (mithya-drşti), Lack of control ( avirati ), Inadvertence (pramada), Passions (kaşaya) and Vibrations ( Yoga),1 Nescience is at the root of all evils and cause of worldly existence. The Jainas do not bother about its whence and why. It is regarded as coeval with the Soul; hence it is eternal and beginningless. Both the Self and Nescience are accepted as facts on the basis of uncontradicted experience. Vidyananda Swami says that Right Attitude, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct constitute the path of liberation. Naturally, the antithesis of this Trinity must lead to bondage. If the very outlook is wrong, one cannot expect right knowledge; and there cannot be right conduct without right knowledge. Theory and practice are interlinked. So, on this realistic ground, the Jainas reject the metaphysical position of all those who subscribe to a unitary principle as the cause of Bondage.
(5) Jaina Moksha
(a) Definition of Moksha Mokşa, the last of the Jaina moral categories, is the gist of Karma-phenomenology and its relation to the Science of the Soul. Mukti is total deliverance of the Soul from kärmic-veil Sarvavarnavimuktirmuktih. As Umasvami says, Mokşa is the total and final freedom from all Karmic-matter; in other words, the nonexistence of the cause of bondage and the shedding of all the Karmas. Aśrava is the influx of the Karma-particles into the Soul. This influx is caused by the actions of the body, speech and mind. As the Karmic inflow is the principle of bondage and its stoppage is a condition of Mokṣa, so Saivară is opposite to Aśrava. Samvara literally means controlling.
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1. Tattvartha-sutra, VIII. 1; Dravya-Sangraha, 30; SarvarthaSiddhi, pp. 374-375.
2. Uttaradhyana-sutra, XXVIII. 30.
3. Tattvartha-sutra, X. 2.
4. Ibid, VI. 1-2.
5. Ibid, IV. 1.
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