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Jaina Philosophy and Religion
maintain that there is only one God. For them, there are many Gods. In spite of this, there are reasons for our regarding them as one. As all the perfected souls possess infinite knowledge, infinite vision, infinite power and infinite bliss, they are absolutely alike. And their absolute likeness is the cause of our considering them to be one as also of our applying the term 'one' to them. Again, all the perfected souls being uniformly formless, they interpenetrate with one another as do the lights of different lamps. Hence, they in their indistinguishable and undifferentiable collective form are viewed as one and consequently the term 'one' is applied to them. Waters collected from different rivers and wells, when mixed, interpenetrate with one another. So, we do not recognise their difference and treat them as one. Thus it is not contradictory and improper to regard many perfected souls as one God (İśvara or Bhagavān) from this standpoint.
Liberation—-Everlasting and Endless There may arise a doubt in our mind: According to the law that a thing that is produced is necessarily destroyed some time, liberation too must end some time as it is produced; so its being eternal is implausible and untenable.
To remove this doubt from our mind, we should know that liberation is not something producible. Liberation is nothing but the complete removal of all karmas from the soul. No new thing (quality) is produced in it, so there is no question of its destruction or end. When the clouds move away, the bright sun shines in its fullness. Similarly, when all the coverings of karmas are removed from the soul, all its qualities get fully manifested, in other words, now the soul is manifested fully in its original nature which is luminous sentiency. This is liberation. Now tell us, what is produced here?
The soul that has attained absolute purity on the total removal of all karmas never again binds any karma and consequently is never born again in this world. Umāsvāti writes: "When a seed is completely burnt, no sprout is produced from it. Similarly, when the seed of karma is burnt, the sprout of birth does not grow out of it.”
1. dagdhe bīje yathā'tyantam prădurbhavati nänkurah/
karmabije tathā dagdhe na rohati bhavānkuraḥ//-Tattvārthadhigamaśāstra Compare with it the following statement from the Chandogya-Upanişad: na sa punar ävartate, na sa punar ávartate/
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