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Lord Mahavira
the whirlpool of the senses (AS 1.1.5.1-3), for freedom from action can only arise from the mendicant and ascetic state of homelessness, which engenders the right mental stance with regard to the world and also requires fortitude in the face of difficulties (SKS 1.14).
The Jain monk is portrayed in the earliest texts as being fully responsible for his destiny and in control of his life, and his isolation and independence, which mirror the state of the soul as conceived by Jainism, are conveyed in stark terms:
Man, it is you who are your only friend. Why do you want a friend other than yourself?
(AS 1.3.3.4) When the monk realises that he is alone, that he has no connection with anyone and that no one has any connection with him, in the same way he should realise that his self is also alone.
(AS 1.8.6.1) The way to deliverance is abstention from action and the overcoming of the passions:
The person who does not act gets no new karma and so knows what karma is. Through his knowledge, he is a great hero (Mahâvîra) so that there is no further birth for him nor does he die.
(SKS 1.15.7) Deliverance is designated both as non-violence itself (SKS 1.3.4.20 and 1.11.11) and as a state free from corporeality from which 'words return in vain, about which no statements of mundane logic can be made and which the mind cannot fathom' (AS 1.5.6.3). The soul which has attained this state is totally unconditioned:
It is not long nor small nor round nor triangular nor quadrangular nor circular; it is not black nor blue nor red nor green nor white; neither of good nor bad smell; not bitter nor pungent nor astringent nor sweet; neither rough nor soft; neither heavy nor light; neither cold nor hot; neither harsh nor smooth. It does not have a body, is not born again, has no attachment and is without sexual gender. While
