Jainism

Author(s): Vallabh Smarak Nidhi
Publisher: Vallabh Smarak Nidhi

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their movements and rest. They do not make them move or rest, but simply perform, the function of assistance. It is due to them that the division of Lakakasha and Alokakasha is inferred. There would be no end to the upward movement of the liberated soul if these substances did not exist.
Jains do not believe in a personal, eternal God who has been from the start all-pervading pure, omniscient and all-powerful and is also the creator of this universe. In Jainism the deified liberated souls, countless in number, take the place of God. The aim of their devotion is merely to guide and inspire a sincere devotee to follow in their footsteps.
The individual soul can attain Godhood by continuous efforts. It is the human soul which on complete purification from foreign Karmic matter, attains to the highest level of divine perfection. Thus in this system man hiniself becomes God, depending upon his own help. The following words of Shri Jawaharlal Nehru may well be regarded as a tribute to the Jain point of view concerning God or deified human souls
'It has always seemed to me a much more