________________
184
JAINISM
The acquisition of siddhāhood is synonymous with attaining nirvāṇa,? where negatively speaking there is no pain, nor pleasure, nor any karmas nor auspicious and inauspicious dhyānas, nor any thing such as annoyance, obstruction, death, birth, senses, calamity, delusion, wonder, sleep, desire and hunger and, where, positively speaking, there is perfect intuition, knowledge, bliss, potency, immateriality and existence. The Ācārānga describes the siddha stage thus : “All sounds recoil thence where speculation has no room, nor does the mind penetrate there. The liberated is without body, without resurrection, without contact of matter ; he is not feminine, nor masculine, nor neuter; he perceives, he knows, but there is no analogy ; its essence is without form ; there is no condition of the unconditioned."9
With the attainment of the nirvāņa stage, the jīva's aspirations for freeing itself from the malignant influence of ajīva are realized. It reaches the top of the universe and there is no fall from it. It shines forth as a glorious example of what has been achieved by one jīva and what can and ought to be achieved by the other jīvas. The description of the six-fold monastic order is thus a description of the jiva in its various stages of perfection, institutionally considered.
7 Niyamasara, 183 8 Ibid., 178-181 9 1. 5. 6. 3. 4
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
