Jainism For Beginners Level 03

Author(s): Sayampurnashreeji
Publisher: Sayampurnashreeji

Page 33

Some description of Jiva has been given in the earlier chapter while dealing with "Shad-dravya". It should however be clear from the discussion thus far; that the knowledge of these fundamentals or of anything else is meant for knowing the Self. This Self is variously known as Jiva, Atma, Paramatma, Chaitanya, Brahma, consciousness, etc.. Thus soul being the focal point & ultimate objective of all knowledge, it would be useful to discuss it here at some length.
'What is this soul after all?'
No one has ever seen it. Therefore atheists (people who do not believe in God), who refuse to believe in anything that cannot be perceived or grasped by senses, deny the existence of the soul. Most scientists contribute to this view. They think that the body is a biochemical composition & is made from a peculiar combination of genes from the parents. As long as the composition is active, it is said to be a living organism; & when the activity comes to an end, it is considered to be dead. But science does not clarify what exactly makes it active & why does the activity come to an end. It is a fact that when a person dies, his heart, kidneys & other limbs may still be active but the body is unable to use them & therefore they cease to function. If however, they are removed from that body in time, they can be transplanted in another
body & function effectively in the new body. Does it not mean that there was some sort of invisible energy that was activating in different limbs of the body while it was alive? That energy happens to disappear at the time of death & the presence or loss of that energy is the difference between life & death. Spiritual science calls that energy as soul.
There exist an infinite number of souls & every living body has a soul. (Sadharan Vanaspatikaya has infinite number of souls in one body). The soul is invisible & has no form or shape. It cannot therefore be experienced by the senses. It is an element of its own & cannot be created by any sort of combination or composition & can never be decomposed. It is eternal & lasts forever. From time to time, worldly soul resides in different organisms through which it manifests itself. This type of transmigration & new embodiment birth after birth has been going on since the time without beginning. Even though a particular body happens to be its temporary residence, soul tends to take it as its permanent abode & gets happy or unhappy depending upon the type of that body & its environment. Forgetful of its true nature, it aspires to get maximum happiness within the framework of its given embodiment & surrounding situations. This attachment
Nav Tatva (Part-1)
23