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JAINISM AND WORLD PROBLEMS
source of evil in any way. The perishing of such a body for want of food would be a calamity in the eve of the mortal man ; but it would be the symbol of Freedom and Release and Joy for the Omniscient Saint. He would, therefore, be totally indifferent to the needs and requirements of the body, and in no way interested in studying its well-being. The sooner it perished the sooner would full Divinity and God. hood be attained ! As for the pangs of hunger and thirst, Omniscience is only attained when the Saint has conquered these and all other bodily cravings completely. Besides this, the body which holds a fully illumined Soul is very different from the ordinary physical bodies of men ; it has been purged of its worst internal constituents that obstruct the light of Omniscience and unlimited Perception ; and it is characterised by many wonderful changes that are wrought in the formations of the ganglions and nerves, under the strain of asceticism and dhyana (mental concentration). Probably the body of the Omniscient Soul directly draws, without the necessity of a deliberate effort on his part, from the atmosphere as much of light and heat and of the other subtler elements as such a highly purified and wonderful organism needs, and it may be that the material thus directly absorbed is utilised, in the internal laboratory of the system, for the manufacture and storage of some form of highly concentrated nourishment that suffices to maintain it in a fit and healthy state while it continues to be associated with the Soul.
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