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JAINA VIEW OF MOKŞA COMPARED WITH.....
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condition, self will be devoid of consciousness, and freedom from pain." So long as the soul is related to the body, pain is inevitable. Thus the state of freedom is like the state of deep dreamless sleep devoid of consciousness, 4 pleasure and pain together so absolute cessation of suffering mean cessation of pleasure too. To escape from this dilemma, faced by Nyāya thinkers, opposite thesis was evolved by other Naiyāyikas that freedom is bliss" instead of a state of painless, passionless, unconscious existence. Like Nyāya, according to Vaišeșikas self-cognizes things when it is connected with the body; so when the soul is free from body, the liberation (Mokşa) is possible.
According to Sāṁkhya-yoga school, consciousness is the essence of Purușa. The Bandha (bondage) and Mokșa (the selfrealization) are due to state of Praksti. Purusa in its real nature is unaffected by the evolutes of Prakrti. But due to nescience (avidyā) Purușa falsely identifies itself with the evolutes of Prakrti. Just as bird flying in the air is reflected in the water of the pond below, so also the state of Bandha and Mokșa are reflected in the Puruşa. But with the awakening of real knowledge and realization that Purusa is different from Praksti, ignorance is destroyed and self becomes free from the bondage (Bandha) and reaches the Moksa state.
The Sāṁkhya-yoga concept of the nature of Purușa is similar to the Vedāntic conception of the ātman, the Jaina conception of jīva and the monad of Leibnitz. Kapila does not elaborately discuss nature of Mokșa. Like Buddha, he also says that this world is full of misery and the main object is to free from misery. However, later Sāmkhya philosophers have given description of the nature of Mokșa and it is also described as kaivalya.
13 Nyāya-bhāşya, 111.2.67 14 Nyāya-sūtra, IV.1.163
Nyāya-bhāsya, 1.1.22 Nyāya-kandali, P-57 "Sāṁkhyakārikā, 62
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