Book Title: Jainism Christianity and Science Author(s): Champat Rai Jain Publisher: The Indian Press AllahabadPage 90
________________ 78 JAINISM, CHRISTIANITY & SCIENCE ideal into whose foot-steps we wished ourselves to walk. The Perfect Men have got rid of matter completely, so that bodies are not formed any longer by Them in Nirvana. They reside at the top of the universe, termed Siddha Sila. There They abide, free from hunger, thirst, bodily sensations, sweat, sleep, birth, old age, death and the like. They have no matter adhering to Them; Their being is constituted by the substance of the soul, which is a simple uncompounded thing. They are in the human fórm, and above calamity, misfortune and mishap. They are immortal, omniscient, eternally blissful, and reside above the region of turmoil and suffering where embodied souls pass their time in misery. The Christian view on the subject is rather myse tically expressed, but it is easy to be unfathomed. The twenty-four Elders of the Apocalypse are really the twenty-four Trrthamkaras, the scenic surroundings leave ing no doubt on the subject, though the style is mystic. An initiation scene is laid in allegorical style. In the centre of'a huge 'hall’ is placed a throne on which is placed Life that is Divine: round about the Throne are four and twenty seats on which sit four and twenty Elders, robed in white and wearing crowns of gold. In this Assembly is introduced the Lamb (the symbol of the soul characterized with supreme humility) that is to be initiated. In front of the Throne are four remarkable beasts: one of them is like a lion, another resembles an eagle, the third has the appearance of a calf, and the fourth has the face of a man. These beasts have six wings each, and are full of eyes all over; and they rest not night and day, but keep on blessing thePage Navigation
1 ... 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219