________________ Preface instrument (karana). The soul engrossed in pure consciousness imparts pure consciousness to self; the soul, therefore, is the bestowal (sampradana). As the soul gets established in its pure nature, at the same time, destruction of impure subsidential knowledge, etc., takes place and, therefore, the soul is the dislodgement (apadana). The attributes of infinite knowledge and energy are manifested in the soul itself; the soul, therefore, is the substratum (adhikarana). This way, from the transcendental point-of-view, the soul itself, without the help of others, is the sixfold factors-of-action (niscaya satkaraka) in the attainment of On destruction of the four inimical (ghati) karmas, the self-dependent soul - 'svayambhu'-attains infinite knowledge (that illumines the self as well as all other objects) and indestructible happiness, both beyond the five senses (as such, termed atindriya). It then is characterized by infinite knowledge - kevalajnana (on destruction of the jnanavaraniya karma), infinite perception - kevaladarsana (on destruction of the darsanavaraniya karma), infinite faith or belief in the essential principles of the Reality - ksayika-samyaktva (on destruction of the mohaniya karma), and infinite power - anantavirya (on destruction of the antaraya karma). The own-nature (svabhava) of the soul is knowledge-bliss (jnanananda), manifested on attainment of its pure state of perfection, rid of all external influence. Just as the brightness of the sun gets diffused on emergence of the clouds but regains intensity as the clouds fade away, similarly, on destruction of the inimical (ghati) karmas, the soul regains its ownnature of infinite knowledge-bliss (jnanananda). The Omniscient Lord (kevalajnani) attains the light of knowledge that is steady like the light of the jewel. It neither accepts nor rejects the objectsof-knowledge (jneya) and the objects-of-knowledge (jneya) do not cause transformation in the soul. The soul experiences only the nature of own soul by own soul, utterly indifferent to all external objects. As objects like the pot and the board get reflected in the mirror without the mirror wanting to reflect these, all objects-of-knowledge (jneya) of the three times get reflected in the knowledge of the Omniscient Lord without him having any desire to know these. He is just the knower (jnata) and the seer (drsta). The knowing soul is utterly different from all foreign objects; only . . . . . . . . . . XLI
