Mahavira and his Teaching

Author(s): C C Shah, Rishabhdas Ranka, Dalsukh Malvania
Publisher: Bhagwan Mahavir 2500th Nirvan Mahotsava Samiti

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BASHISTHA NARAYAN SINHA
consciousness, they possess it in various degrees,. Consequently they, according to the different degrees of consciousness they hold, may be seen in a continuous series. Earth, water, fire, air, vegetables etc. are at the lowest level of consciousness. They have only tactual sensation and nothing more than this. They have such a short degree of consciousness that sometimes they seem to be lifeless. The 'Kevalīs' or omniscients and 'Muktajīvas' or the liberated souls possess the highest degree of consciousness. In between the Jivas possessing the highest and the lowest degrees of 'Upayoga' there come the Fivas having senses from two to five such as worms, ants, bees, and human beings.
Jīvas are innumerable and every one of them has numberless 'Pradeśas'. 'Pradeśa' means unit or point. A soul, when it occupies a big space, expands itself and at other time while it possesses a small space, it contracts itself. It is identified with the light of a lamp. As, according to the proportion of the space a lamp is kept into, its light is found to be either extended or contracted, a Jiva also either expands or contracts itself according to space of a body it possesses. It means a Jiva can cover the smallest portion of space as well as a big hall. It is found in bacterium as well as in a big fish.
A Jiva is eternal, yet it passes through the different stages of worldly life. Its existence is proved by its own consciousness. It means a soul is self-proved. Though it lives in a particular body, it is totally different from it. We often see a body busy with various activities, but actually it is Jiva or soul which acts. It is the enjoyer of pleasure and the sufferer of pain. As the result of its various "Karmas' done, it either enjoys or suffers, but being free from the all worldly karmas it obtains liberation.
Inanimate (Ajiva)
The world in which Jivas or souls reside is a physical one and is constituted by material substances. But only material substances cannot satisfy all the conditions which are needed by a soul in order to exist in this world. Therefore more than the