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JAINA VIEW OF GOD COMPARED WITH .....
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But to the discerning few who see through the trick and have no illusion, the jugglers fail to be a juggler. Similarly, those who believe in the world-show think of God through this show and call him its creator, etc. But for those wise few who know that the world is a mere show, there is neither any real world nor any real Creator.
God is not really touched by imperfections of the world just as any illusory characters of the snake do not affect the rope, or even as the actor is not affected by the loss and gain of kingdom on the stage.
A God who transforms himself into the visible universe is himself subject to transformation and change he cannot be regarded as the absolute reality. A God who creates a world limits himself by the very act of creation, and thus ceases to be infinite. The question "why should God create at all, remains un-answered. This difficulty is overcome, however, if we consider the world as māyā, and this explanation of our universe is, moreover, in perfect accord with the finding of modern science.
The Upanişads, it is true, appear to consider Brahman the first cause of the universe, both material and efficient. They declare that the universe emanates from, subsist in, and finally merges in the absolute Brahman. Samkara never directly contradicts the Upanișads, although sometime he appears to interpret them to suit his own view. The universe, he says, is a superimposition upon Brahman. Brahman remains eternally infinite and unchanged. He is not transformed into the universe. He simply appears as this universe to us, in our ignorance (avidyā) we superimpose the apparent world upon Brahman, just as we sometimes superimpose a snake upon a coil of rope.
Śaṁkara’s conception of God can be conceived from two different viewpoints. From ordinary practical standpoint (Vyāvahārikadrsti) world is believed (have religious faith) to be real,
Dr. Chatterjee & Dr. Datta, “An Introduction to Indian Philosophy”, P-388
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