________________
Jaina Path of Purification (Liberation)
99
knowledge. And on this knowledge, we can base our spiritual practice, Though this is a very vast subject, let us briefly treat of some points related to it.
Firstly, according to some philosophers', the soul is not limited or confined to the body, it is all-pervasive, it exists everywhere at the same time, it exists in the body and outside it simultaneously. Each body has a separate soul. Each one of these souls pervades the entire universe. This is what they maintain. Secondly, they contend that cognition is not the nature of soul. It is an accidental and adventitious quality generated in the soul on account of its contact with body, mind and sense organ. As it is not the nature of soul, in the state of liberation it is absolutely devoid of it.
On these two points, the Jaina philosophers differ from them. Take the first point. The Jaina thinkers too believe in many souls and maintain that each body has a separate soul. But according to them, the soul is not allpervading, it pervades only the body in which it lives. The qualities of soul, viz., cognition, desire, etc. are experienced in the body alone and not elsewhere. This fact proves that the soul too exists in the body and not outside it.
Now take the second point. Cognition is not an adventitious quality of soul, it is its natural quality, it constitutes its real nature. By nature, soul is cogniser. This is the Jaina view. So, according to the Jaina philosophers, even in the disembodied state of liberation wherein it does not have mind, body and sense-organs and hence their contacts the soul does have its natural quality, viz., cognition. As cognition is its very nature, in its state of liberation it is manifested in its infinity. As opposed to this, those who
1. The Nyāya, the Vaiseșika and the Samkhya philosophers. 2. The thing exists there alone where its qualities are experienced. All agree that a thing must be there where its quality is found. As for example, a pot exists where its form exists, and not elsewhere. This is what Acārya Hemacandra has said in his Anyayogavyavacchedikā Dvātrimśikā. His words are: ‘yatraiva yo dystagunaḥ sa tatra kumbhādivan nispratipakşam etat/' The special qualities of the soul, viz., knowledge, feelings, desire, etc., are experienced in the body alone. Hence the possessor of them
should reside in the body alone and not outside it. 3. The sun is covered by clouds. So, its brilliant light becomes dim when it passes
through them, and that dim light becomes even more dim when it enters a room through a curtain. But on that account one cannot say that the sun does not naturally possess the brilliant light. Similarly, soul's infinite natural light of knowledge is obstructed by the coverings of karmic matter and on that account manifests itself in different degrees. Its manifestation in the different degrees of dimness does not prove that the soul does not possess the infinite light of knowledge as its nature.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
