Lord Mahavira and His Teachings

Author(s): Vallabhsuri Smarak Nidhi
Publisher: Vallabhsuri Smarak Nidhi

Page 70

Lord Mahavira and His Teachings
is considered to be enough to secure salvation. Such one-sided religious beliefs are dismissed by the Jaina thinkers. They maintain that all the three must be present together to achieve the purpose. Very often the following analogy is quoted.
Salvation implies escape from Samsara which is associated with birth, old age and death. Every person aims to reach a place which is free from birth and death. Such a desire is similar to the desire of a sick man to cure himself and attain normal health. Such a desire to be effective, the sick man must have implicit faith in his doctor, whom he consults. Next he must have a clear knowledge of the medicine prescribed by the doctor and thirdly he must take the medicine according to the instructions given by the doctor. Faith in the doctor, knowledge of the medicine, and taking the medicine as prescribed, all these three are necessary to eradicate the sickness and to secure normal health. Similar is the acquisition of spiritual health, which would be secured only by the co-operation of the three items of Right Faith, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct.
What is the conception of God in Jaina Religion ? What is the nature of God worshipped by the Jainas ?
Jaina Darshana, just as Sankhya Darshana and Mimamsa Darshana, does not believe in the doctrine of creation or a Creator, or an Ishvara, and yet believes in a Divine Being for whom the Jainas build temples and coduct religious worships. What is the nature of their God whom they worship? He is worshipped because he is the Revealer of the path to